The beleaguered agri-cooperative NAFED’s board members fighting each other is likely to end as Ashok Thakur government nominee and Bijender Singh and his supporters are willing to iron out their differences.
”I am talking to the governments of Delhi and Haryana to get business for Nafed and you will soon see the results,” an enthusiastic govt nominee Ashok Thakur told Indian Cooperative.
The relations between the two Thakur and Singh went from bad to worse following the election when the former was promised the post of Vice-Chairmanship and all formalities were gone through including getting his signature on a blank form. However, they surreptitiously passed the govt the same form saying he (Thakur) could not get even a proposer and a seconder.
This caused Thakur to fly off the handle to the extent that he filed a petition challenging the whole election process. Mr OP Kalsian, the arbitrator is hearing the matter and the next date falls on 19th May. ”There were more than 15 people when it was decided that I would be made vice-chairman. I trusted them in good faith but they made fun of my candidature,” Thakur said recounting the past incidents.
A development that made him change his mind, Ahok Thakur claimed when on the occasion of the Board meeting in April several team members led by Bijender Singh made a move towards rapprochement. ” They wanted me to stop writing letters to government on various issues and to use my clout with the government to get the beleaguered cooperative out of the woods,” Thakur confided.
“Look, I am a born cooperator, I have founded more than 25 cooperatives and never tried to capture any. I am ever eager to cooperate and make NAFED grow from strength to strength. That is why I decided to try them once again and promised to help provided they give me free hand”, added Thakur.
The government nominee said the BJP is a reckonable factor in the Board with about 7 board members connected to the party one way or the other. There are two from Madhaya Pradesh, two from Haryana, one each from Gujarat and Chattisgarh and myself a govt nominee, he summarized.
There are the likes of Dilip Singhani, Bhairav Singh Sekhawat ; even Jagjit Singh Sagwan has joined BJP making us a pretty stronger team, Thakur said exuding confidence. With the cooperation of old timers led by Bijender Singh we are sure to make NAFED a going concern once again.
Thakur also hinted at developing such procurement and technical models as would do away with the middle men at work between the govt and the farmers. He intends giving a power-point presentation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue in the foreseeable future.