Chintan Parikh is new president of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The high-powered committee (HPC) of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) finally overpowered 'the powers that be', who were known to rule the chamber from outside.

As part of their cleaning up process, 340 'bogus' members have been removed from the chamber and another 240 members have been suspended in the annual general meeting (AGM) of the GCCI held on Saturday.

Chintan Parikh of Ashima Ltd has been selected as the new president of the chamber, while Mahendra Patel of Mamta group of companies and Prakash Bhagwati of Inspiron Engineering have been selected as senior vice president and vice president,
respectively.

Chintan Parikh, new GCCI president, said that their priority will be restoring the chamber to its past glory. "We will ensure that incidents with a potential to tarnish the image of the chamber are not allowed to occur," he said.

Office bearers and 49 executive committee members, along with one past president of the chamber, were also unanimously selected during the AGM. As per the new constitution, half of the officer bearers and executive committee will retire in June 2011 and will be replaced by new members, either elected or selected.

However, the election is not likely next year either, and new members of the executive committee will be introduced through selection, believe sources. The executive committee will meet within the next 15 days and will decide on whom to appoint as the honorary secretary - rural and honorary treasurer.

Parikh said, "We are in the process of forming a committee of five past presidents of the chamber, with the best credibility."  

In an important development at the AGM, 340 members that were termed as bogus by the scrutiny committee were disqualified as members of GCCI, and 240 more have been suspended. "I think that a majority of the suspended members will not turn up for membership renewal and will automatically get disqualified," said Parikh.