The union said nearly 27 lakh farmers associated with the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation have not got dividends and are finding it hard to maintain quality.
Things are getting murkier at the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) with one of its affiliate cooperative unions threatening to withdraw the brand Amul lent to it for marketing its products.
The Kheda District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (KDCMPUL), which is part of the GCMMF, today threatened to withdraw the Amul brand. KDCMPUL owns the brand and the logo since 1974.
"Due to infighting in the GCMMF, nearly 27 lakh dairy farmers associated with it have not got dividends. Small unions are not able to maintain the quality because of which the brand Amul is getting affected," Ramsinh Parmar, who chairs KDCMPUL, said.
"We are thinking of withdrawing the Amul brand from the federation as it is a question of the reputation of the brand which is today trusted by millions of customers," Parmar said.
"We shall be discussing this issue at the next annual general meeting of the federation," he said.
But Parthi Bhatol, who chairs GCMMF, said the KDCMPUL cannot take the brand back as both parties have entered into an agreement.
"The issue of trademark or brand withdrawal was raised in the past also when Pravin Patel was chairman of KDCMPUL," Bhatol said. "At that time an agreement was signed between the Kheda union and GCMMF laying down the terms and conditions for brand withdrawal.
"Today Amul is a brand of 30 lakh farmers in the state and nobody can withdraw the brand name just like that. A lot of conditions have to be met before a union like Kheda can withdraw it.
"As far as the quality of milk is concerned, the federation has appointed qualified certifiers at every dairy for quality control checks, so there is no question of a compromise with the quality of milk being sold under the brand name Amul."
Two successive board meetings of the GCMMF convened on May 4 and 25 this year to approve the financial results for 2009-2010 and discuss the budget for next year could not be held owing to a lack of quorum. The dividend of dairy farmers is also approved
during this meeting.
Some board members of the nation's largest milk cooperative want Bhatol to step down as head of the GCMMF, while he is determined to complete his second term.
Following internal bickering, GCMMF managing director BM Vyas recently tendered his resignation to the chair, who has accepted it.
With a network of 13 district cooperatives, including KDCMPUL, engaging 30 lakh dairy farmers spanning 12,000 villages of Gujarat, the GCMMF has a daily average collection of 8.7 million litres of milk and had a turnover of Rs8,007 crore in financial year 2009-10.
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