The much expected meeting of GCMMF slated for 30th June stands cancelled. In an interesting turn of events majority of Directors sided with the Chairman Mr Parthi Bhai Bhatol and wrote him that they do not want any meeting.

It should be known to the readers that nine directors led by Parmar and Vipul Chaudhary had earlier written letter requesting for the meeting to discuss B M Vyas resignation. Mr Bhatol had insisted on seeing the letter first when Ram Sinh Parmar talked to him on phone for fixing a board meeting. On this Mr Parmer met the acting Managing Director Mr R S Sodhi and showed him the letter. In  a classic case of arm twisting by Parmar and Chy camp, Mr Bhatol had no choice but to  agree for June 30th meeting.

Now it seems the table has turned with four of the nine directors siding with Mr Bhatol.They are Manu Bhai Patel of Surat dairy, Jetha Bhai Patel of Sabarkatha dairy, Shanker Singh Rana of Gandhi Nagar dairy and Baba Bhai Parwar of Surender Nagar dairy.

Out of 13 directors, four were in the camp of Bhatol since beginning and the joining of these four has put the number of his supporters to be eight.

With this, the chance of B M Vyas’s comeback has receded further.

As what led to this dramatic change in the scenario, sources say that rumour of corruption charges floating against B M Vyas is one of the factors for this turn about. Majority of Directors do not want  to be involved with anything that is controversial. In such a scenario Bhatol emerged as a clear cut choice for them. Leaving the troika of Parmar, Chaudhary and Megha Bhai, it said, all other directors will sooner than later join Bhatol camp.

 The upheavals at Anand was taking its toll  on the helpless farmers who are only an insignificant players watching the drama from sidelines. The acting MD of GCMMF have on Monday met with the MDs of all the 13 Unions and have sorted a way out of this problem.

 ”We have decided that the bonus will be released to all milk unions. The unions will provide us written request to get this amount. Managing directors of all dairies, who met federation’s in charge managing director R S Sodhi for operational meeting, are finding out modality to do so at the earliest,” GCMMF chairman Parthi Bhatol told. He further added that while the bonus will be released as advance for the time being, the actual amount will be settled once the audited annual accounts of financial year 2009-10 are cleared by the federation’s board. “We can’t withhold this bonus which belongs to farmers of Gujarat,” he said.

  The federation has called a requisite meeting on June 30.

 Two earlier board meetings were adjourned as majority of dairy chairmen had abstained from the meeting Also at the meeting, the managing directors discussed a probable price rise of milk in key markets like Delhi.

B M Vyas , the managing director of gcmmf, god knows why, wrote in a plane paper to be relieved from the job by 30^th June. The chairman of gcmmf Mr Parthi bhai Bhatol seized upon this piece of paper like a hungry man and announced to the world that Vyas  is no more with amul.

But this is not the end of vyas saga. The story started long time back. As Vyas term started to get near its end, he employed all the tricks in his bag to get yet another extension.  His long stay at amul has enabled him to oblige many such people who matter.

Ram Sinh Parmar and Moga bhai Desai figure prominently in the list of those whom Vyas has obliged through extra constitutional means. It is said that Vyas gave a credit of Rs 15crore to Valsad milk union run by Moga bhai without any information either to board or to its  chairman. Ram Singh Parmar is also said to have taken many favours in the regime of Vyas . He is a congress MLA with considerable clout with milk unions.The joining of  former minister Vipul Choudhary has further strengthened the hold of this troika—Vipul- Ram Singh and Vyas.

B M Vyas  confident of using this group to continue  his rule at amul. It is said that Vyas will support  vipul choudhary for the post of chairmanship who in turn will insure 5 years un interupted of Vyas at amul.

The only hitch in this game plan is Parthy bhai Bhatol’s unfinished tenure. He has two more years to go. 9 directors out of 13 have written one line letter to the chairman to call board meeting on 30^th June to discuss B M Vyas resignation. This meeting which has no other agenda is going to be quite stormy. The 9 directors led by the clout of Ram –Vipul duo will try to push for Vyas continuation and Bhatol’s ouster. But on what basis Bhatol’s exit will be tried to be enforced  will be interesting to see.

Vyas camp  is never  tired of boasting that in his rule amul went on to become  8000 crore company. But Bhatol’s camp give credit for the growth to the leadership of Bhatol. They cite the example of milk union  run by

Parthi bhai. This union produces 25lack litre of milk while the average in gcmmf is 19 lac litre and this union is supposed to be the best performer in whole of Asia . Parthi bhai managerial excellence, supporters say , can be gauged from this example.

Whatever be the truth, 30^th june is going to be crucial not only for Vyas and Bhatol but for amul too. Success of amul or for that matter any cooperative movement cannot be one  man wonder –be it Vyas or Bhatol. The board will do well to favour a man who represents the movement and the farmers.

Amul continues to be on boil so far. Indian cooperative .com could establish contact with the Chairman of GCMMF ,Mr Parthi Bhai Bhatol who expressed him self fully on the recent controversy. Excerpts

Q What is the status of BM Vyas resignation? There is conflicting news in the media where in it is said that only Board has the power to accept his resignation

A Board takes up the matter when the MD is to be suspended or removed but if the MD gives his resignation voluntarily, Chairman has the right to accept it. Vyas was threatening people with the pressure of his resignation for quite some time. He sent me a letter in which he wanted to be relieved by 30 th June. In the interest of the Organization I accepted it.

Q What do you mean by the interest of Organization? Was he not useful for the organization?

A  His only job was to divide cooperators on the board of GCMMF. He would oblige some members and would be opposed to others. He ensured his stay at Amul by encouraging infighting among us all. Even other wise he is 60 years old and his term was coming to end on 30th November.

Q But it is said that he resigned as the quorum of two board meetings were not fulfilled and he left in frustration

A Absolutely bogus! Mr Vyas wanted to get extension for another 5 years. He got in touch with some of the board members and bargained with them. He convinced them of grand plan of permutation and combination by which  Mr Vipul Chaudhary would be made Chairman. He is a manipulator par excellence and has been running affairs of Amul as one man show.

Q So he manipulated the lack of quorum?

A Absolutely. He even put pressure on me through board members so that I  resign. It was all to get Vipul made Chairman so that Vyas rule for another 5 years continues unhindered. Board members, without realizing Vyas’s game plan demanded my resignation. My humble submission to them was to tell me my mistake, I still have two years to go.This will also set a bad precedent if an elected chairman resigns due to the machinations of MD.

Q Vipul Chaudhary is trying to acquire your chair. He is a former BJP minister also.Don’t you think Narender Modi will have sympathy for him?

A Vipul Chy was in Keshu Bhai’s ministry and later went to Congress with Shanker Singh Vaghela. He is political opportunist who has changed many parties. Mr Narender Modi is very mature politician and knows the difference between shadow and substance.

Q But Vyas was Kurian’s choice?

A Yes he was in the beginning. But he  soon lost Mr Kurien’s blessings. Outsiders may not know but it was B M Vyas who was behind the ouster of Kurien. Kurien had soon felt uncomfortable with Vyas style of functioning. He felt it was not conducive for farmers and was seriously planning to remove him. Sensing this, Vyas again played the game of hijacking board members so that Kurien is thrown out. Now he is trying to do a Kurien on me too.

Q Have you met Kurien? He must be a sad man seeing the happenings at Anand.

A I have met him recently but not after Vyas resignation. He will never support Vyas who thought Amul is his personal fiefdom. Vyas  so much autocratic and secretive that if  an employee meets  the  chairman or any board member he used to face disciplinary action or even suspension on some other pretext.

Q Employees getting suspended? What do you mean?

A Many things have come tumbling down after Vyas left. Some of them are unmentionable but it is a fact that the employees were a fear-stricken lot scared of meeting Chairman or any of the Board members. Now they come forward and tell strange stories I can not tell to media.

Indian cooperative intends to recruit Field Reporters preferably having background in cooperatives matters at following places

Anand, Mumbai,Ahmadabad,Bangloru, Hyderabad,Lucknow,Chandigarh,Patna,Chennai, Bhuveneshwer, Kolkota

Eligibility: Any body who has nose for news and has some understanding of cooperative matters. He may also be a retired hand. Command over language is not essential but should have power of comprehension.

Compensation: according to merit

Biodata and application should be e-mailed to

info@indiancooperative.com

Nafed woes seem not to end. Hailed till recently as successful cooperative, its slide to poor management and shrunken finance have its image battered in the cooperative world. NAFED Chairman Dr Bijender Singh went to meet the state agriculture minister on Wednesday to discuss “betterment of nafed”.

Earlier, Nafed has sought a loan of Rs 1400 crores from the government. How far the govt is keen to give it loan-free interest cannot be said, but talking to Indian cooperative .com, NAFED Chairman Dr Bijender Singh said file has moved up from the agriculture ministry to finance ministry.

Talking about the tie up business losses Dr Singh said that the cases  are being followed in different courts and are in different stages of finalization.  Nafed is reeling under huge interest burdens following its ‘failed’ ‘tie-up business’ started a few years back

Despite making gross profits for the last ten years,  Nafed is facing a huge financial crunch as its profit is being wiped out owing to significant interest liability because of outstanding loans against the failed tie-up business.

Nafed, a 50-year-old body set up to provide marketing support to farmers, is the government’s nodal agency for procurement of identified oilseeds and pulses.

With one innocent post on Indian cooperative.com, the editorial team here could gauge the dirty politics that is sweeping Anand. People with fake identities began to post nasty comments and began to demolish the reputations of competitors.

I take this opportunity to inform one and all that Indian Cooperative is being run by a team of professional journalists with the sole aim of strengthening Indian Cooperative movement. We intend to offer plate form to well meaning individuals who wish to contribute to this movement. We have neither friends nor foes at professional level.

Also, we are not afraid of reporting the truth, let what come. Any attempt to browbeat us will only back-fire.

We have means of finding out those who use fake identities to post comments. We believe that in democracy every body has right to express himself but it must be done within the parameters of grace and ethics.

Editor

Mr G C Gupta has taken over as new Managing Director of NCCF replacing Mr R K Srivastava, an IAS officer of  Jharkhand cadre. Mr Gupta comes from NCDC and is an old hand at cooperative matters.

It is said that affairs at NCCF is in complete mess and Mr Srivastava was desperate to get away as soon as possible.Even otherwise it is election season in NCCF and politicians will try to influence the MD. Now it is up to Mr Gupta as to how does he handle it. Indian cooperative is trying to find out the road map of recovery, new MD is planning for the revival of NCCF.

The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) is the apex Federation of the consumer cooperatives in the country. NCCF was set up on 16 October, 1965 and is administered under the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act 2002. The present membership of the NCCF is 136 comprising of Primary Co-op. Stores, Wholesale Societies, State level Consumer Cooperative Federations, National Cooperative Development Corporation and the Government of India.

When the board of GCMMF wanted to remove Kurian way back in 2006, he was puzzled no end. He said that time that the board of directors opposing his chairmanship are the same people who had elected him unanimously, three months ago.

But then what happened in the intervening three months? Kurien who had wrestled with Indian bureaucracy and politicians all his life was not able to understand the new turn of events. But he was definitely smelling some grand design to upstage him? Who was it –an individual or a concentrated group of vested interest?

Kurian may have the answer but did not share. He only said , “I don’t know what consideration has prompted them (board directors) to adopt such a course of action. I could only think that the recent decision of board members is an orchestrated act involving people at a very high level.”

People at high level? Who is it? Today he must be laughing at the bank as the grand empire of white revolution which Kurien built is bleeding drop by drop. And that too before Kurien’s eyes!  Unless the average cooperator wakes up and take note , his business,his movement and his legends like Kurien are going to vanish slowly, in course of times. The recent spat at Anand is just a curtain raiser!

It is well known fact that the cooperatives now face fierce competition in the market.  The era of subsidies, concessions, govt. support is on continuous decline and what was preferred domain of this sector is now opened up for other players in the market. Now, Cooperatives hardly get any preferential treatment in the State Policy Documents.

Over a period, cooperatives were given autonomy and freedom from the Government control and this also had led to amendments in the cooperative legislations and initiation of more reforms in the cooperative sector as against the earlier scenario. Another important change which has occurred in the recent years is pruning of public services by the Government besides cutting down on the large network of rural and agri-extension services.

In response to these situations, the cooperatives need to draw their strength and capital principally from the stake-holders themselves by providing value added services to them.The role of Government is to provide enabling business environment only for the growth of the cooperatives.  In the recent past, the Government of India had also made the cases for cooperative companies, amending the Companies’ Act to enable the cooperatives to operate with same degree of freedom as is being enjoyed by the private companies without sacrificing the spirit of cooperative. Therefore, cooperatives can no longer grow and expand its activities as appendages of Government.

In this backdrop one of the efficient way to mobilize resources and participate in various programme and schemes of the govt. through public private partnership mode.  The public private partnership (PPP) provides an opportunity for private sector participation in the financing, designing, construction, operation and maintenance of Government programmes, schemes and projects.

The cooperative sector has immense professional manpower spread across the country, huge infrastructure of their own, and are working as community-based organization for its stake-holders.  The time has come to reap and explore a whole new world of possibilities through PPP mode by the cooperatives and forge a greater interface between government and cooperative sector in a wide range of activities in the country.

It may be collaborative efforts between Government and cooperative sector to participate as an agency implementing the projects and schemes of the government through PPP mode.  The cooperatives are the community based economic enterprises and successful in delivering benefits at the grass-root level.  There are various programmes and projects like NREGA which is a flagship of the Rural Development Ministry of Government of India in which cooperatives have immense role to play through public private partnership both at the village & block levels for gamut of rural development activities. There is another promising programme called Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) with huge allocation of funds in which again cooperatives may play a lead role through partnership mode.  There are other popular programmes like ATMA scheme which is focused for agriculture extension services to the farmers in the villages besides, natural resource management, organizing farmers groups through cooperatives etc.  with the partnership of various state governments. In fact, the need of the hour is to identify and participate in the various socio-economic welfare projects and programmes of the government by the cooperatives and popularize the PPP Model so that resource crunch cooperatives may enhance their financial strength and relevance in days to come.