The Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM) and the Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Cooperative Federation Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening gender-inclusive, informal worker-owned cooperatives across the country.
The MoU was formalized between Dr. Suva Kanta Mohanty, Director of VAMNICOM, and Ms. Jigisha Maheta, Managing Director of SEWA Cooperative Federation.
The partnership brings together the institutional expertise of VAMNICOM and SEWA to support three key goals: improving the functioning of existing informal cooperatives, facilitating the creation of new women-led and gender-inclusive cooperative enterprises, and expanding opportunities for women within the cooperative ecosystem.
The partnership marks a significant step toward advancing gender-inclusive growth within India’s cooperative sector. It places specific emphasis on strengthening informal worker-owned enterprises and creating greater economic opportunities for women. In fact, the VAMNICOM–SEWA MoU has the potential to accelerate women’s economic empowerment by expanding gender-inclusive, informal worker-owned cooperatives and strengthening grassroots cooperative capacity across India.
According to sources, the initiative aligns with SEWA Cooperative Federation’s broader efforts to dispel long-standing misconceptions about the capabilities and contributions of informal women workers in cooperative business models and promote women-led and gender-inclusive cooperative enterprises.
