Kerala : Kishor Kumar T. K, representing Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS), India, has been elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the International Cooperative Alliance Asia-Pacific Committee on Agriculture and Environment (ICAE) at the Annual Meeting of the ICAE held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Prof. Madya Dato’ Abdul Rahman Abdul Razak Shaik is the new Chairperson of the committee. Kishore Kumar is the Chief Project Coordinator of ULCCS and COO of UL Cyberpark.

ICAE is a regional committee of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) that focuses on agricultural and environmental issues in the Asia-Pacific region. It operates under the International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP), the regional arm of the global ICA, which works to advance cooperative movements across the Asia-Pacific area. The committee’s activities include promoting sustainable agriculture, improving farmers’ incomes, developing agricultural cooperatives, and supporting climate-change management.

Kishor Kumar is a director of New Delhi-based National Labour Cooperative Federation of India (NLCF). He is the representative of Uralungal Society in NLCF, which is the apex body of about 47,000 cooperatives in the country.  He is a member of various committees working at the national level to attract youth to the cooperative sector. He is also working as a representative of ULCCS in various national committees including the advisory committee formed by the Ministry of Cooperatives.

Kishor Kumar was a member of study trips to Spain, Italy and Brazil held under the auspices of UNDP. He has participated in various conferences representing the Indian cooperative sector in countries like Australia, Sri Lanka, Iran, Thailand, Philippines, and Malaysia to share innovations in the cooperative sector.  He has visited England at the invitation of the British High Commissioner. He represented India at a workshop in Vietnam organized by the Asian Productivity Organization to enhance digital transformation initiatives in member countries. Kishor Kumar was also part of the group that visited Iran along with T. P.  Ramakrishnan during his tenure as the state’s Labour Minister.