Noida Soil Testing reports take ages to come and I request you to get it sent as quickly as possible, said Jaiveer Singh, a delegate from Hapur who had come to participate in the Kribhco AGM held on Thursday in N Delhi.

Krishna Lal from Bagpat wanted parity for cane growers vis a vis cooperative in matters of rate and availability of fertilizers. Khemchand Yadav from Jaipur wanted Kribhco to stress upon bio-fertilizer more and more.

In a free for all members’ AGM, delegates put across their point of views frankly. The Vice Chairman of Kribhco Chandra Pal Singh Yadav promised to accommodate as much as possible.

It was announced on this occasion that Kribhco has earned a pretax profit of Rs. 192.16 crores during the financial year 2011-12. Buoyed by the results, it declared a dividend @ 20% for Member Cooperative Shareholders, consecutively for the 8th year on this occasion.

The annual accounts have been approved by the Society in its 32nd Annual General Body Meeting held on Thursday at NCUI Auditorium in Delhi.

Kribhco Chairman V. R. Patel, Vice Chairman, Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, Managing Director B D Sinha and all the directors attended the AGM. More than 510 delegates of member cooperatives from different parts of the country also participated.

B.D.Sinha, Managing Director informed Hazira Plant has maintained good performance during the year. On marketing front, Kribhco has positioned itself strategically and is committed to fulfill the aspirations of all stakeholders, said Mr Sinha.

KRIBHCO has also diversified into Infrastructure business and established a subsidiary “KRIBHCO Infrastructure Ltd.,(KRIL)”. KRIL has established Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Hazira and Rewari. Further two more ICDs are under advanced stage of construction at Modinagar and Hindaun. KRIL has eight rakes and 1500 containers.

On this occasion, two eminent cooperators were honoured by KRIBHCO for their pioneering works. The “Sahakarita Shiromani” samman was awarded to Smt. Leeladevi R.Prasad from Karnataka and the “Sahakarita Vibhushan” samman was awarded to Shri Vitthalbhai H.Radadiya from Gujarat. Both eminent cooperators are said to have acted as catalyst for the national cooperative movement.

Cooperative politics is very interesting as it witnesses the shift of power in a most unlikely manner. Virendra Singh, Chairman of NCCF must be thanking his stars for the windfall he got through the declining clouts of Nafed and its leadership.

Elected as Chairman , more than a couple of years ago, Virender Singh was taken hostage by his own Board dominated by his adversary Vishal Singh, the son of late Ajit Singh. The race for the top job was so intense that NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh had to intervene to bring truce between them.

It was rumoured that an arrangement of revolving powers has been worked out in which half the tenure of Chairmanship would go to Virendra Singh and the other half to Vishal Singh. True or not, Virendra Singh was spared the eventuality of this kind as the jinx of Nafed was on Vishal.

Bijender Singh, the strong man of Nafed and a member of the NCCF Board, always stood by Vishal. To top it,Chandra Pal Singh also nurtured fatherly affection for the young Vishal who lost his father when he was still a boy.

There were many occasions in the NCCF Board meeting when Virendra Singh would be reduced to a mere spectator while Vishal and his sympathizers would call the shots. once, a few people appointed by the Chairman as advisors were asked to quit and Virendra Singh could nothing.

But the Nafed jinx has not only weakened Vishal but also robbed Bijender Singh of much of his strength.

There are still issues that are vexing Birendra Singh. Some of the top ranking officials are also trying to have a go at the cooperative politics by siding with this or that group. They seem intent on their own selfish considerations while uncertainty surrounds the future of the cooperative leadership.

This has led to delay in many of the projects of NCCF in the past. Hope an invigorated Chairman would take calls, pressing urgently on the apex consumer cooperative body sooner than later.

NCUI President finally gave in and wrote to the Union Agriculture Secretary a letter for which the agricultural ministry had been tightening the screws on the apex cooperative organization for more than a year.

In his letter NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav has agreed to cede administrative and financial powers.

Talking to the Indian Cooperative Chief Executive of NCUI, Dr Dinesh confirmed that the letter had been sent but when asked to divulge its content he stalled saying “I have not seen what he has written. It’s a matter between him and the Ministry. So far as I am concerned I will continue to work under the guidance of the Governing Council and the President”.

However, readers could recall the words expressed by Dr Dinesh only a week ago. He had talked about the breaking of the ice between NCUI and the Ministry in an interview given to Indian Cooperative.

Last week meeting was indeed crucial, as Indian Cooperative had informed its readers. It was in this meeting when Chandra Pal decided to cede powers in order to deliver NCUI from a financial bind it found itself in for a long time.

According to sources, the plight of NCUI field project staff that had been without salary for months compelled Chandra Pal to change his mind. Chandra Pal in his meeting with the Union Minister Sharad Pawar had sought his intervention in easing pressure on the staff. Taking advantage of the compulsions of his situation, the ministry babus asked him to sign a piece of paper committing him to relinquishing his powers. When he had returned to his office at Siri Fort Road he knew he had lost it.

It is a matter of time now that funds would start flowing, informed one of the directors at NCUI. But what passes one’s comprehension is the abject genuflection of the highest cooperative body before the imperious govt babus.

On a number of occasions earlier, the issue of abandoning powers had been resisted in the meetings of the Governing Council as it held the elected heads were paramount.

But Ministry’s constant pressure coupled with the arm-twisting tactics of withholding funds compelled the President to bend. And the conditions of the field staff only added to his helplessness.

He won so far as NCUI’s immediate future is concerned but he lost in terms of the future of the cooperative movement.

This experience teaches a lesson too that if you wish to stand up to the babus you have to be economically viable. The cooperative movement that comprehends the entire world is not a product of governmental efforts but an achievement of the people at large.

An important meeting between the President of National Cooperative Union of India Chandra Pal Singh Yadav and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar took place in the afternoon of Wednesday. While Pawar was assisted by the new Agriculture Secretary Bahuguna (who has replaced P K Basu) and Joint Secretary, Chandra Pal had Chief Executive Dr Dinesh on his side.

Talking to Indian Cooperative about the meeting Dr Dinesh said that it was a “meeting with a difference” in which free exchange of ideas took place. “While we presented our case and requested for continued support from the government I was happy to note that the Minister is no less seized of the matter”, said Dr Dinesh.

On the query if the fund for field projects would be made available now Dr Dinesh said that regular interaction is important and today the ice has been broken. We can expect some concrete development in a matter of week.

Readers could recall that government has stopped aid to the NCUI for training and education programmes leading to fund-crunch at the apex cooperative organization. Several people working in various field projects across states of the country at a meager salary have not got their salaries for past many months.

According to Dr Dinesh NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh made a very strong presentation on the conditions of field officers before the Minister. He detailed the woes being felt by the field officers and their families.

Ministry has asked us to reform our working and we informed the Minister about the various steps such as new recruitment and promotions policies that have been set in motion in NCUI, Chief Executive informed Indian Cooperative.

When Indian Cooperative asked if the Minister insisted on cutting down the power of Governing Council of NCUI as a pre-condition for releasing fund, Dr Dinesh cleverly skirted the subject.

Readers could recall that government had insisted on divesting executive power from the President and GC. It had suggested that Governing Council should bother itself only with policy matter and growth of cooperative movement in the country. The NCUI’s Board had rejected it leading to stand-off between the two.

Wednesday meeting between NCUI and Ministry took place after a long time and has thrown up a beacon of hope for the survival of apex Cooperative.

It is a wake-up call to the President of NCUI Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav as his detractors are working overtime to dislodge him from power in the wake of arbitrator ruling against his election to the post.

According to some of the directors who confided to Indiancooperative.com on condition of anonymity, a storm is brewing quietly in NCUI’s corridors after the arbitrator ruled against the incumbent President.

Readers could recall that one Rajendra Sharma of Himachal Pradesh had challenged Chandra Pal Singh accession to President-ship in the court of the government appointed Arbitrator. Mr Manjhi, the arbitrator ruled against the incumbent President.Later Mr Chandra Pal Singh filed petition against the ruling in the court, hearing for which is scheduled on 18th of April.

Many directors who were till now on the sidelines, nurse the ambition of occupying centre-stage. But they are wary of coming out openly in public lest their move should back-fire. They are bidding their time.

What unnerve them somewhat are the utterances by Mr V P Singh in support of the President. An advocate and a member of Governing Council Mr Singh is said to have told that the case against the incumbent President is very weak and stay against the ruling is a certainty.

Chandra Pal’s detractors cite postponement of the meeting of Governing Council on 26th March a sign of his weakness.
Talking to Indiancooperative.com on condition of anonymity, one of the members of the governing council said the next date of meeting has been chosen conveniently on 19th April as hearing in the court on the ruling is scheduled a day before on 18th April.
‘Chandra Pal wishes to face the Board with a positive verdict in his hand from the Court”, he said.

But President’s opponents point out postponement as violation of NCUI’s bye-law which mandates quarterly meetings. When Indiacooperative.com contacted the Chief Executive Dr Dinesh on the issue he laughed off the matter saying “these are trivial issues and owing to a host of insignificant reasons the date of meeting has been extended”.

Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, President of National Cooperative Union of India missed the victory by a whisker in Tuesday counting of votes for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

He lost the seat by a mere 249 votes to Krishna Pal Singh Rajpoot of BSP.

Chandra Pal was Samajwadi Party candidate from Babina, an assembly constituency falling in Jhanshi Parliamentary constituency of Uttar Pradesh.

The results of Babina Assembly seat was withheld for a number of hours due to complaint of EVM not working correctly. Chandra Pal was ahead of his nearest rival Rajpoot till 23rd round of counting by a margin of about 2500 votes.

Then suddenly in the 24th round, he was announced trailing by about 250 votes. It led to protests from NCUI President’s supporters who smelt some foul play in the working of the counting machine.

According to sources, it was much later that the District Magistrate announced the result declaring Krishna Pal a winner ignoring complaints from Chandra Pal’s supporters.

The Election Commission site still shows counting in progress

The result is indeed painful for the NCUI President who was billed to take over as Cooperative Minister in the upcoming SP Government. Samajwadi Party has done quite well in Uttar Pradesh and has neatly cast BSP off the seat of power.

Indian Minister Harish Rawat stole the show at 9th Asia-Pacific Cooperative Ministers’ Conference in Bangkok. His presentation on the subject of cooperative and government was widely applauded.

Talking to Indian Cooperative.com from Bangkok NAFSCOB Managing Director Mr Bhima Subrahmanyam said that Bangkok conference has been a huge success given the free exchange of views among the participants. “Mr Rawat’s presentation was brilliant as it touched upon all the major issues plaguing cooperatives in present times” , he said.

Many cooperative leaders from India including NCUI President Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav and NAFED Chairman Bijender Singh are participating in the Ministers’ conference in Bangkok.

Dr Chandra Pal Singh who put forth his point of view through power point presentation was also quite impressive, added Mr Subrahmanyam. This conference was a step ahead of last conference which had taken place in Kuala lumpur, he added.

The Cooperative ministers of the Asia-Pacific countries, government officials, leaders of cooperative movement in the region along with top ICA officials including Dame Paulin Green and Charles Gold are also

The Conference would deliberate for three days on the way to productive collaboration between governments and cooperatives. Interestingly, with the initiative of ICA, uniform cooperative laws are in vogue in the regions of Africa, Latin America and Europe.

Dr Jaya Arunachalam, the steely lady behind Working Women’s Forum (WWF) was full of praise for NCUI when its officials led by President Dr Chandra Pal Singh went calling to Chennai to promote cooperative movement among women last Friday.

WWF is active in many states with aim to empower women and has been fairly successful in making its members stand on their feet..

Speaking on the occasion Dr Chandra Pal Singh said that the co-operative movement is the opportunity that will enable women from lower socio-economic groups to raise themselves into confidence, empowerment and blossom into entrepreneurs.

Complimenting WWF for providing women with the skill and ability to earn their livelihood by  training them in various trades, Chandra Pal granted a sum of Rs.50,000 to WWF for undertaking training programme.

Dinesh Mishra, chief executive of NCUI, Dr. Krishnan from Indian School of Business and other official of National Cooperative Union were present on the occasion.

A sum of US $ 10,000 had been granted by Goldman Sachs, United States, following the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to WWF earlier this year. This money would be utilised to organise a training programme, along with the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad during the last week of January, informed Mrs Arunachalam.

Cooperative fraternity burst into jubilation on the news of passing of Constitution (111th) Bill, 2009 on Thursday by Lok Sabha. Apart from other things, the fact that forming cooperative has acquired status of Fundamental Rights gave shot in the arms of cooperative leaders.

“It is history in making” quipped Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, President of National Cooperative Union of India, the apex cooperative body in the country. We thank Sharad Pawarji and all 390 MPs who unanimously passed the bill, he added.

The Constitutional amendment bill aims at bringing uniformity in cooperative societies in terms of election , tenure and composition(one woman and one from SC/ST) of cooperative societies.

We welcome it. Country has realized the need for vibrant cooperative movement, was the massage from Shri Uday Shanker Awasthi, Managing Director of IFFCO which is a federation of more than 40 thousand cooperative societies across the nation.

Shri G N Saxena,Director of Cooperative Development at IFFCO was euphoric at  forming cooperatives being elevated to the rank of Fundamental Rights.

Eknath Thakur, another cooperative giant in the field of Urban Cooperative Banks and Chairman of the largest Urban Cooperative Bank, Saraswat welcomed the news and said that this bill would strengthen the cooperatives at grass root level.

Birendra Singh, Chairman of NCCF  said that election provision of new bill would usher in transparency and professionalization in cooperative set up. It is result of our hard work as we went twice before Standing Committee for an effective Bill, he added.

Cooperative leaders cutting across sector are happy with the news as some feel that high handedness of state political bosses would no more weaken cooperative movement. Example of  Tamil Nadu is case in point where election has not taken place for last 29 years.

Other highhandedness such as reducing or increasing the tenure of board to suit political expediency as Mayawati did in case of Uttar Pradesh would also be a thing of past.

The bill also proposes Annual General Body meet once in a year thereby correcting the practice especially in States of not calling AGM for 10 years or more.

In a rare show of solidarity Mr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, President of NCUI has decided to quit the race in favour of Iffco candidate Shri K Srinivasa Gowda in run up to the mid-term election to ICA Board.

Election to the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Board is to take place on the occasion of General Assembly slated on 14-18 November 2011 in Cancun. Talking to Indiancooperative.com from Jhansi, Mr Yadav said “I talked to various cooperative leaders in the country and everybody felt that we need to present united voice of Indian cooperatives at international level.

Cooperative leaders from IFFCO, Nafed, Nccf, Urban Cooperative banks, labour, fisheries were consulted and it was decided that I should sit in favour of Iffco nominee Mr Gowda”. Anyway, this is a mid-term election and once we offered late Surendra Jakhar the ICA board membership we decided to let his nominee continue.

To a question if he would fight in regular election, Mr Yadav said that it is too early to say as elections are two years away from now.

But I seriously believe that NCUI is the sole representative of Indian cooperative movement as it encompasses whole range of cooperative movements. Iffco represents only fertilizer, Amul represents only dairy so on and so forth; but NCUI represents the whole gamut of cooperative movements in the country, he added.

When Indiancooperative.com contacted Dr G N Saxena, Cooperative Director of IFFCO to take his reaction on this development, he thanked NCUI President for this gesture. “Dr Yadav is a cooperative leader and if he has withdrawn his candidature in favour of Iffco nominee in the spirit of cooperative solidarity, we are grateful to him”, he said.

Vacancies for two board members are there-one from India and second from Poland. There are twenty members on the board of ICA including President. Any country, no matter how big, can have just one member on the Board. There is varying number of delegates to General Assembly but in no case would it be more than 25 from a country. India has 12 delegates in General Assembly.

Indiancooperative.com wrote in earlier pieces that for a country like India which is at the helm of global cooperative movement, efforts should be made to have consensus candidate.

Talking to Indiacooperative.com, even ICA Asia-Pacific Regional Director Dr Chan Ho Choi had said that country matters not the individual.

ICA is an independent, non-governmental association which unites, represents and serves co-operatives worldwide. Founded in 1895, ICA has 254 member organisations from 94 countries active in all sectors of the economy. Together these co-operatives represent nearly one billion individuals worldwide.