In his presentation at Co-op Kumbh 2025, Dr. K.K. Tripathy, Joint Secretary, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, outlined a concrete roadmap to make youth the driving force of India’s cooperative movement.
In his talk titled “From Job Seekers to Change Makers: Encouraging Youth in Cooperatives,” Dr. Tripathy presented the targets and way forward for strengthening youth engagement in the sector by 2030.
He proposed increasing the youth share in cooperatives from less than 10% to over 25%, establishing 5,000+ youth-led cooperatives, and generating over one million jobs and self-employment opportunities.
Tripathy also set a goal of achieving 60% cooperative awareness among educated youth and promoting at least 500 digital cooperatives across the country.
He called for reviewing and harmonising cooperative laws, enhancing coordination among national and state cooperative federations, universities, apex cooperative institutions like IFFCO, KRIBHCO, and Amul, and policy bodies such as UGC, AICTE, and NCDC.
Emphasizing a collaborative approach, he said that all stakeholders-from government agencies to educational institutions-must work together to make the cooperative movement youth-driven, modern, and inclusive. “By 2047, a vibrant youth-led cooperative ecosystem can become a pillar of national strength,” Tripathy concluded.