Harsh Mukeshbhai Sanghani of India has been re-elected unopposed as President of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Youth Committee for the 2026 to 2030 term. The election took place on 13 September 2026 at the Youth Committee plenary in Panama City during the ICA Global Conference. The outcome keeps an Indian youth leader on the ICA Global Board and ensures continuity in the global youth cooperative agenda after the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives.
Harsh Sanghani Re-elected as ICA Youth Committee President
The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) held the Youth Committee election on 13 September 2026 in Panama City. The election was part of the ICA Global Conference and General Assembly held from 13 to 18 September 2026. The conference theme was Building Bridges: Cooperative Contributions for a Peaceful World.
The ICA released the official candidate list before the plenary. Harsh Mukeshbhai Sanghani was the sole candidate for the post of President. No member organisation nominated any other candidate against him. The Youth Assembly therefore elected him unopposed for a full four year term from 2026 to 2030.
Along with the President, the Youth Assembly also elected four Members-at-Large, one from each ICA region. The new members are Salma Hachimi from Africa, Samuel Mancilla from the Americas, Rami al Kasassbeh Salameh from Asia-Pacific and Ramil Nasybullin from Europe. The ICA Youth Committee President also serves as the Youth Representative on the ICA Global Board, which is the highest governing body of the ICA. Sanghani therefore retains his seat on the ICA Global Board for the new term.
Sanghani is a young cooperator from Gujarat in India. He was first elected in July 2025 at the age of 20 at the Annual Plenary Meeting in Manchester. That meeting was held with the Festival of Cooperatives at the head office of the Co-operative Group at One Angel Square. He succeeded Ana Aguirre, who had led the Youth Committee since 2022 and stepped down due to a change in her work. With that first election, Sanghani became the first person of Indian origin to head the ICA Youth Committee in its history of more than 130 years. His first term was to complete the remainder of the 2022 to 2026 cycle. The Panama result gives him a full second term in his own right.
Sanghani is the Founder and President of the Indian Youth Cooperative Society (IYCS) and Chairman of Ray Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. He has earlier worked as Yuva Agriculture Minister of Gujarat and led several youth driven cooperative missions. He was inspired to join the global movement after attending the ICA Global Cooperative Conference in New Delhi in November 2024. During his first term, the ICA Youth Committee worked to make the panel more active, connected and self reliant. It expanded regional engagement and raised youth representation in the ICA Board and in United Nations dialogues. It also promoted practical programmes such as Coop Mentor, Coop Intern, Coop Startup Global and Coop Study to support leadership training, student exchange and youth led cooperative startups.
For the 2026 to 2030 term, Sanghani has placed three goals at the centre. The first is financial self reliance for the Youth Committee. The second is open working groups in which all members can join and contribute. The third is global programmes such as the Model ICA General Assembly and the Global Cooperative Youth Leadership Summit. The wider plan also includes a Global Digital Cooperative Incubator for youth startups, a Youth Cooperative Leadership Academy and a Global Youth Cooperative Policy Forum for cross border policy ideas.
What Is the International Cooperative Alliance?
The International Cooperative Alliance is the global voice of cooperatives. The ICA unites, represents and serves cooperatives across the world. The ICA was founded on 19 August 1895 in London during the first Cooperative Congress. Delegates from countries including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Serbia, Switzerland and the United States took part in its creation. It is one of the oldest non governmental organisations in the world and one of the largest in terms of people represented.
The ICA has its Global Office in Brussels in Belgium. The ICA President is Ariel Guarco (as of September 2026). The ICA network today brings together more than 330 member organisations from 106 countries. These members include national and international cooperative bodies from agriculture, banking, consumer, fisheries, health, housing, insurance and industry and services. Together, the world has about 3 million cooperatives with about 1 billion members. This means at least 12 percent of humanity is part of a cooperative.
The ICA is organised in three layers. The governing core includes the General Assembly and the Global Board. The four Regional Offices cover Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. The Asia-Pacific office traces its roots to 1960, when the ICA Regional Office and Education Centre was opened in New Delhi. The eight Global Sectoral Organisations cover agriculture, banking, retail and consumer, fisheries, health, housing, insurance and industry and services. The five Thematic Committees and Networks cover youth, gender equality, research, law and development.
| ICA Layer | Units |
|---|---|
| Global Office and Governance | Global Office in Brussels, General Assembly, Global Board |
| Four Regions | Africa, Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe |
| Eight Sectors | Agriculture, Banking, Fisheries, Health, Housing, Insurance, Retail and Consumer, Industry and Services |
| Five Committees and Networks | Youth, Gender Equality, Research, Law, Development |
The ICA is also the guardian of the Statement on the Cooperative Identity. The Statement gives the common definition of a cooperative, lists 10 values and lays down 7 operational principles. The 7 principles are voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, education and training, cooperation among cooperatives and concern for community. The rule of one member, one vote is the heart of democratic member control. It means every member has equal voting power, however much capital that member has put in.
What Is a Cooperative Society?
A cooperative society is a voluntary group of people who join to meet common economic, social and cultural needs through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. Each member has one vote, shares the surplus fairly and takes part in decisions and management.
What Is a Cooperative?
A cooperative is a people centred business owned, controlled and run by and for its members to meet shared needs and aims. Members may be producers, workers, consumers or residents. Profits stay with members or the community through reinvestment or fair distribution, not with outside shareholders.
In India, cooperative societies work in credit, marketing, dairy, housing, fisheries, handloom and many other fields. Well known examples include dairy networks such as Amul, primary agricultural credit societies in villages and urban cooperative housing societies in cities. A cooperative society in India is a legal body registered under a Cooperative Societies Act. Societies limited to one state are registered under the State Cooperative Societies Act of that state. Societies working in more than one state are registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, which Parliament has amended in 2023 to improve governance and transparency.
Cooperatives are a State Subject under Entry 32 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Multi state cooperatives fall under Entry 44 of the Union List, for which Parliament can make law. This division explains the phrase cooperative federalism often used in India. It means the Centre and the states must work together, with states making laws for their own societies and the Centre framing policy and law for multi state bodies.
What Is a Cooperative Bank?
A cooperative bank is a member owned bank that accepts deposits and gives loans mainly to farmers, small traders, self help groups and local communities. It works on the one member, one vote principle and returns surplus to members or reserves while serving local development.
The cooperative credit system in India has two broad parts. Rural cooperative banks form a three tier structure in most states. At the village level are Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). At the district level are District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs). At the state level are State Cooperative Banks (StCBs). Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) serve towns and cities. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), established in 1982 and headquartered in Mumbai, provides refinance and development support to this network. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), established in 1935 and headquartered in Mumbai, regulates banking functions, while registration and management remain under cooperative law.
The National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB), set up in 1964, acts as the apex forum for state and district cooperative banks. In recent years, the government has allowed UCBs meeting norms to open new branches, supported an umbrella organisation for UCBs and pushed computerisation of PACS to improve transparency and service. The International Cooperative Banking Association (ICBA), an ICA sectoral body, links such banks at the global level. Its President has recently stressed youth engagement and financial literacy for the future of cooperative finance.
Cooperative Movement in India and Constitutional Backing
India has one of the oldest and largest cooperative movements in the world. Even before any law, village groups built common assets such as tanks and ran traditional saving pools known by names such as chit funds, kuries, bhishies and phads. Formal law began when rural debt and famine in the late 1800s created an urgent need for farm credit. The government appointed the Edward Law Committee, with Frederick Nicholson as a key member, to suggest a remedy.
| Year | Milestone in India |
|---|---|
| 1904 | Cooperative Credit Societies Act passed on 25 March, limited to credit societies |
| 1912 | Cooperative Societies Act expands scope to marketing, handloom, artisans and other non credit societies |
| 2011 to 2012 | 97th Constitutional Amendment passed in December 2011, effective from 15 February 2012 |
| 2021 | Separate Ministry of Cooperation created on 6 July |
| 2025 | National Cooperation Policy unveiled on 24 July |
The 1904 Act gave legal status to cooperative credit bodies. By 1911, India had about 5,300 societies with more than 3 lakh members. Early examples included village banks in Jorhat in Assam and the Tirur Primary Agricultural Cooperative Bank in Tamil Nadu, both registered in 1904. The 1912 Act fixed gaps in the first law and opened the door to non credit cooperatives.
The 97th Amendment gave cooperatives constitutional status. It added the words cooperative societies to Article 19(1)(c), so the right to form cooperatives became a Fundamental Right. It added Article 43B to the Directive Principles of State Policy, which asks states to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperatives. It also added Part IXB on cooperative societies, with rules for incorporation, boards and management. In July 2021, the Supreme Court in a 2 to 1 verdict saved the amendment but struck down Part IXB for single state societies because half the states had not ratified it. The Supreme Court held that Part IXB would continue to apply to multi state cooperative societies.
A separate Ministry of Cooperation was created on 6 July 2021 by moving work from the former Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. The Minister for Cooperation is Amit Shah (as of September 2026). The Ministry works with the motto Sahkar se Samriddhi, which means prosperity through cooperation. Its tasks include model bylaws for PACS, a national database of societies, computerisation, new multipurpose PACS for uncovered panchayats and support to cooperative banks. The National Cooperation Policy 2025 was unveiled on 24 July 2025. It has 6 strategic pillars, 16 objectives and 83 recommendations. The draft was prepared by a 48 member national committee chaired by Suresh Prabhu. The Ministry has also set up Tribhuvan Sahkari University by converting the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) into an institution of national importance through an Act of Parliament.
International Year of Cooperatives and International Cooperative Day 2026
The Panama election sits between two global landmarks that raised the profile of cooperatives. The United Nations declared 2012 as the first International Year of Cooperatives. Cooperatives across the world marked it under the theme Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World to show their role in poverty reduction, jobs and social inclusion.
The United Nations General Assembly then proclaimed 2025 as the second International Year of Cooperatives through Resolution A/RES/78/289 on 19 June 2024. The proposal was sponsored by Mongolia and Kenya. The theme for 2025 was Cooperatives Build a Better World. The theme underlined that cooperatives offer practical answers to global challenges and help advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The year was formally launched on 25 November 2024 at the ICA Global Conference in New Delhi. The four stated aims were to raise public awareness, strengthen cooperative startups and growth, push for friendly laws and policies and inspire young leaders to join the movement. In India, the Ministry of Cooperation released a national action plan on 24 January 2025 for the year. On 15 December 2025, the United Nations adopted Resolution A/RES/80/182 to mark an International Year of Cooperatives every ten years.
The International Day of Cooperatives, also called CoopsDay, is celebrated on the first Saturday of July every year. The ICA started the celebration in 1923. The United Nations recognised it in 1995. In 2026, the day fell on 4 July. It was the 104th International Cooperative Day and the 32nd United Nations International Day of Cooperatives. The theme for 2026 was Cooperatives for a Peaceful World. The theme was chosen jointly by the ICA and the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), in consultation with United Nations partners. It presents cooperatives as bridge builders that bring people together, strengthen trust and support recovery in divided societies. It links directly to Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions. The Panama conference theme on building bridges carries the same message forward.
Key Takeaways
- Harsh Mukeshbhai Sanghani was re-elected unopposed as ICA Youth Committee President for 2026 to 2030 on 13 September 2026 in Panama City.
- The International Cooperative Alliance was founded on 19 August 1895 in London and has its Global Office in Brussels.
- The ICA Youth Committee President also serves as Youth Representative on the ICA Global Board.
- The 97th Amendment (2012) made the right to form cooperatives a Fundamental Right under Article 19(1)(c) and added Article 43B and Part IXB.
- The separate Ministry of Cooperation was created on 6 July 2021 with the motto Sahkar se Samriddhi.
- The 2026 International Day of Cooperatives was observed on 4 July 2026 under the theme Cooperatives for a Peaceful World.
