Central university’s new co-op MBAs clear 1st job market test, signal new talent pipeline for sector

Tribhuvan Sahkari University (TSU) has also sought to bring cooperative-sector experience into the academic process.

The campus of Tribhuvan Sahkari University, formerly IRMA, in Anand | Image via special arrangement

New Delhi: Tribhuvan Sahkari University’s (TSU’s) three new cooperative-focused MBA programmes have cleared their first test in the job market, with all students in the inaugural batch securing summer internships, as the university seeks to build a pipeline of professionally trained managers for India’s cooperative sector.

The three programmes—Agribusiness Management, Cooperative Banking & Finance, and Cooperative Management—were launched after the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) was restructured into TSU in 2025.

The new courses are separate from the established Rural Management programme of IRMA, which continues to be part of the university’s school structure.

The 2025-27 batch is still in the first year of its two-year residential programmes, so final placement outcomes will only emerge in the 2026-27 recruitment cycle. The summer internship exercise is therefore the first indication of how the new courses are connecting students with employers.

The three programmes had 56 students in the Summer Internship Segment, with all securing internships across 40 different organisations. Agribusiness Management had 36 students and 23 recruiters, Cooperative Banking and Finance had 14 students and 11 recruiters, while all six students in Cooperative Management secured internships through six recruiters.

While the inaugural batch was relatively small, the 100 per cent internship placement rate offers an early indication of employer acceptance of the new courses. That signal is becoming more significant as the programmes expand – the 2026-28 batch has more than doubled to 127 students, from 56 in the first batch.

Professor Rakesh Arrawatia, Chair for Placement at TSU and Dean of the School of Cooperative Banking and Finance, said cooperatives had shown strong participation in both internships and final placements. “We have got a very good representation of cooperatives this year, for both the placement and the internships,” Arrawatia told ThePrint.

Among the cooperative organisations participating were Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul), Banas Dairy, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL), and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Built-in industry exposure

The university has also sought to bring cooperative-sector experience into the academic process. Arrawatia said people from cooperative societies and urban cooperative banks are represented on the board of studies for the Cooperative Banking & Finance programme, helping the university understand the skills required by the industry.

Professionals with experience at the Reserve Bank of India, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Saraswat Bank have also taken sessions for the students.

This approach is intended to give students a better understanding of the industry while making potential employers more familiar with the programmes and their students.

Urban cooperative banks, however, have not yet been a significant part of the recruitment process. Arrawatia said the university had approached some banks, but hiring from the new courses was not part of their plans in the first year. He expects their participation to increase in subsequent years.

The mean total stipend for the two-month internship was Rs 58,722 for Agribusiness Management, Rs 63,771 for Cooperative Banking & Finance and Rs 58,333 for Cooperative Management, broadly in line with the university’s established Rural Management programme, which recorded a mean stipend of Rs 66,734.

Shantanu Rooj, CEO of TeamLease EdTech, a skilling and recruitment consulting firm, said TSU’s internship results reflect a broader shift in higher education towards building employability through workplace exposure during the learning process rather than after graduation.

“The traditional model where students complete their degrees first and look for industry experience later is gradually evolving, as universities recognise that employability needs to be built throughout the learning journey,” Rooj told ThePrint.

He said the focus should extend beyond improving internship or placement numbers, with institutions needing to ensure students gain practical understanding and are better prepared to contribute from the beginning of their careers.

Cooperatives already hiring from IRMA

The first internship results from TSU’s new cooperative courses have come at a time when cooperatives are already a significant destination for students of its established Rural Management programme run by IRMA now part of TSU.

The 45th batch of Post Graduate Diploma in Management in Rural Management (PGDM-RM) 2024-26 recorded 299 final placements from 301 students by July 2026.

Of the 299 placed students, nearly 31 percent joined cooperative-sector employers, according to the data provided by TSU placement cell. Amul was the biggest cooperative recruiter, hiring 30 students, followed by Mother Dairy with 16, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Dairy Services with 11 and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with 10.

Arrawatia said this reflects growing interest among students in the cooperative sector as organisations take up new initiatives and expand their operations.

“I don’t see any difference in the enthusiasm of students for cooperative organisations compared with the normal corporates that come for placements at a B-school,” he said.

The new cooperative programmes are also expanding quickly. While the first batch had 56 students across the three courses, the 2026-28 batch has more than doubled to 127 candidates: 54 in Agribusiness Management, 50 in Cooperative Banking & Finance and 23 in Cooperative Management.

That makes the next placement cycle a bigger test for TSU. The first batch has shown that its new cooperative courses can attract recruiters at the internship stage, but the challenge now will be to see whether that interest holds as the programmes scale up and their first students enter the final placement market in 2026-27.

(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)