The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), through its Committee on Commercial Laws, Economic Advisory & NPO Co-operatives (CCLEANC), organized a three-day Cooperative Leadership Development Program at the ICAI Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad.
The program was inaugurated by CA Abhay Chhajed, Chairman of CCLEANC and Central Council Member of ICAI. Eminent speakers included RBI Board Member and Sahakar Bharati founder Satish Marathe, Sahakar Bharati Sangarakshak Dina Nath Thakur, and Balu Iyer, Regional Director for the International Cooperative Alliance (Asia-Pacific).
The event was designed to equip practising chartered accountants with insights into the evolving cooperative sector, its regulatory landscape, and the growing demand for financial governance and compliance expertise within cooperatives.
A key highlight of the program was a session by CA Anurag, Deputy Director (Finance) at the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI). He spoke on the theme “International Year of Cooperatives 2025 & Mapping Principles with Cooperative Acts,” offering a comprehensive view of how the globally accepted cooperative values align with Indian cooperative legislation.
His talk came in the context of the United Nations declaring 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives, under the theme “Cooperatives: Building a Better World.” The initiative seeks to showcase the cooperative model as a driver of sustainable development, economic inclusion, and resilience, and India has taken an active role, with the year officially launched in New Delhi in November 2024.
The leadership program covered a range of topics crucial to the functioning and oversight of cooperatives in India. Sessions delved into the structure and compliance needs of multi-state cooperative societies, rural and urban cooperative banks, cooperative credit and housing societies, and the taxation and auditing frameworks governing them.
Government schemes and their relevance to the cooperative sector were also discussed in detail, making the sessions both practical and policy-oriented. The event aimed to deepen the engagement of the CA community with cooperatives, especially as the Ministry of Cooperation pushes for reforms such as easier liquidation of non-functional entities and expansion of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies nationwide.
With around 20 chartered accountants from across the country in attendance, the program served as a vital forum for capacity building and engagement at a time when cooperatives are regaining national and global attention as instruments of inclusive economic growth.