Uttarakhand: UCF ex-Chairman not eager to fight election

Uttarakhand State Cooperative Federation’s (UCF) former chairman and a prominent Congress leader Pramod Kumar Singh has bowed out of the race for the UCF’s chairman citing health reason. The crucial election is due in the 1st week of February.

“Trust me, I am not scared of fighting the election but my health does not allow me to do so”, Singh who is on the board of both NCUI-IFFCO told this correspondent when Indian Cooperative correspondent was recently in Dehradun.

Singh is quoted saying the business of UCF is in decline and the federation is able to pay allowances and salaries of its staff members only with the fund earned as rent.

The UCF is earning a rent of over Rs 4 crore per annum. Singh has been credited for providing the federation with a majestic building sprawling over an area of about 6,000 square meters. The building had been inaugurated by Harish Rawat, former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

Earlier the BJP government had appointed Brijbhushan Gairola as the Chairman of the administrative board of the UCF.

The UCF had an impressive annual turnover of about Rs 111 crore and a profit ranging from Rs 9 to 10 crore during his tenure, Singh claimed.

It bears recall that the UCF has seen many ups and downs after the BJP assumed office in the state. Soon after the victory in the assembly polls, the BJP govt removed Pramod Kumar Singh-an avowed Congressman from the Chairmanship of Uttarakhand State Cooperative Federation (UCF) and put Ghanshyam Nautiyal as the new chairman of the apex co-op body.

Amidst allegations and counter-allegations Singh’s camp’s perception was he had been removed from the UCF by the government in a pre-planned manner. “Before all else, the government dissolved 97 cooperative societies across 10 districts connected with the UCF arguing the societies were not doing any worthwhile business with the federation. All these member societies were part of the UCF”, they said.

The UCF former Chairman Pramod Kumar Singh said, the federation was formed in July 2002 with a share capital of Rs 12,000.

The UCF is supplying Ayurvedic medicine to government hospitals all over India as it has its own manufacturing drug units namely Cooperative drug factory in Ranikhet (Almora) and Uttarakhand Medicines & Pharmaceuticals in Halduchaur, Haldwani.