The impulses of the freedom movement gave birth to many initiatives and institutions in the postIndependence era, all too eager to consolidate freedom and build a new India. The Indian Cooperative Union (ICU) was one such institution born in 1948, led by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya. The ICU pioneered many selfhelp endeavours among the landless agricultural workers and small farmers, raising of the Faridabad township by 50,000 refugee settlers from the NorthWest Frontier Province, development of Central Cottage Industries Emporium for providing interstate and export markets for artisans in handicrafts and handlooms, development of Super Bazaar—cooperative store in consumers interest. As at the grassroots level, the ICU also in the forefront of advocacy of cooperative principles and policy to influence India’s approach towards peopleled development sustained by democratic decentralization. The book here includes the ICU’s wellresearched treatise on Cooperative Principles and their relevance to India’s socio economic goals, Cooperative Farming, Rural Credit, Cooperative Law, Community Development and Development of Handicrafts. Forty years ago, the ICU also foresaw the need for voluntary organizations in India uniting together and helped to setup the Association of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD). This book recalls ICU’s contribution especially in the immediate postindependence period and highlights the enhanced relevance of cooperatives today.