In 2018, ICA-AP and the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), one of India’s premier rural management institutes, signed an MoU to collaborate on areas of mutual interest. These included research on legal framework for cooperatives and exploring work and ownership in Indian cooperatives, workshops to assert the impact of cooperatives in empowering young people and supporting youth entrepreneurship, and trainings for cooperators, among other areas. 

A significant milestone has also been the engagement of students of the Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM) course in internships at ICA-AP as well as with some of our members. The PGDRM course prepares young managers to assume challenge-filled responsibilities in rural cooperatives and development organisations. Since 2018, ICA-AP has had one intern join each Summer for a three-month internship where the candidates have worked on research, policy and communication related assignments.

This year, two students from the PGDRM course, are undertaking their Project Work Module Internship with ICA-AP members. Mr. Manvir Singh is interning with ANGKASA (the Malaysian National Cooperative Movement) to ‘Examine Factors of Production in Scaling up Dairy Production’, and Mr. Yogesh Kumar Joshi with the Nepal Agriculture Cooperative Central Federation Ltd on the ‘Design and Development of Business Plan for The Tulasibhanjyang Small Farmers Agriculture Cooperative Limited’. ICA-AP is proud to facilitate this exchange and act as a bridge between academic institutions focusing on cooperatives and international cooperative movements.

(L-R) Mr. Manvir Singh and Mr. Yogeshkumar Joshi.