There is an infectious enthusiasm at IFFCO’s Plant in Kalol near Ahmadabad. The place has been dolled up as a bride awaiting its suitor. The occasion is opening of the Golden Jubilee celebrations on the completion of glorious fifty years by the cooperative behemoth.
Of all the IFFCO plants, Kalol was chosen as it was here that the fertilzer cooperative was born. The Delhi headquarters as well as its inhabitants have come rushing to Kalol to express their gratitude. Kalol led to many more plants for IFFCO and heralded a movement hitherto unknown in the cooperative world of India. Today, IFFCO has emerged as the leader in supplying the most important agri-input to the farmers.
The entire Board of IFFCO is here with the members celebrating each moment with pride and satisfaction. But the Managing Director Dr U S Awasthi-the man behind the idea of celebrating the event in style is still restless overseeing each and every item of preparations.
Late evening on Wednesday a day prior to the main event when all were having their dinner- the septuagenarian MD was not to be found as he was still visiting the site of the main show where cultural events and a grand opening would take place. He still has some improvisation in his mind.
Lauding the role being played by the Kalol Unit Head Awasthi said” he is the man who has done all these, pointing out the elaborate arrangement visible on the eve of the main event.
The factory and the township-separated by a distance of about a kilometer were flooded with light. Each of them were decorated and dolled up to beat the other. The main function is scheduled to take place at the township, informed the man who drove this correspondent from airport. The factory-the location of actual production has not been forgotten either, he added.
The idea of celebrating the year of Golden Jubilee had been building up for quite some time as Awasthi had been
He had also asked all to contribute to the idea of how to celebrate the event best. Dr. U S Awasthi tweeted “#IFFCO will complete 50yrs in 2017. I welcome all suggestions. Share vid @IFFCO_PR.
Readers would know that it was on November 3 in 1967 when IFFCO was founded to help framers with the production of quality fertilizers. The number of cooperative societies associated with IFFCO has risen from 57 in 1967 to more than 39,800 at present.