Nepal’s apex body NCF witnesses upheavals; Badal out, Kadel in

National Cooperative Federation of Nepal (NCF) held its 27th General Assembly and elected an entire new board of directors and account supervisory committee members under the leadership of Raj Kadel, at the NCF Building Premises, Lalitpur in Nepal on 10th January 2020.

Kadel was elected as the new chairman unopposed. He said it was a historic moment as opportunities and challenges beacon us to take the lead in strengthening and deepening the co-operative movement in the country. Growth of National Apex and cooperative movement of Nepal would be our top priority, he declared.

Kadel said there is a need to put in collective efforts in a team spirit to face challenges and convert them into opportunities.

Kadel took this position over from Keshav Prasad Badal, who has been leading the organization for the last nine years. Badal was a well-known face in India also where he would often come to participate in co-op events. During his leadership, NCF was successful in leading the cooperative movement of Nepal in terms of its institutionalization and growth.

Ms. Om Devi Malla, an ICA Board member was elected unopposed as a Senior Vice Chairperson. Others who made it to the top body included Ramesh Prasad Pokhrel as a Vice Chairman unanimously, Ganesh Dhakal, Ram Babu Yadav, D.B. Basnet, Ms. Huma Kumari G.C, . Ram Krishna Khand, Ms. Tika Budathoki, and Tara Lama Tamang.

K.B Upreti, Narayan Devkota, and Sagar Dhakal were elected in BoD on behalf of Central Federation/National Cooperative Bank. Ms. Amrita Subba and Ms. Padma Gurung elected from Woman Quota whereas Khem Bahadur Pathak, Bhim Tulachan, Tek Prasad Chaulagain, Rajendra Poudel, Laxam Yadav, Shiva Dangi and Laxmi Prasad Sharma elected from open quota.

Dharma Datta Devkota was elected as an Account Supervisory Committee Convener unopposed. Together with Devkota, Som Bahadur Shrestha and Ms. Bal Kumari Bimala Shrestha were elected as the Account Supervisory Committee Members.

Out of 265 valid national representatives in Nepal, 249 representatives enthusiastically took part in the polling procedure.

The Election Committee declared the result and awarded certificates. The elected leaders took oath thereafter.