Amul chairman under siege over MD’s exit

Kheda district dairy union chairman Ramsinh Parmar and Mehsana’s Dudhsagar dairy chief Vipul Chaudhary appear to be leading a revolt against Parthi Bhatol, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF). But the federation chairman is unfazed and is determined to complete his term as chairman.

The rebels have joined hands against Bhatol on the issue of managing director BM Vyas’s resignation. Vyas had resigned a few days back and some days back Bhatol handed him a letter accepting his resignation. However, Vyas has refused to accept the chairman’s orders saying only the board can accept or decline his resignation.

The rebel GCMMF directors say that, of the 13 unions which are members of the federation, 10 are against Bhatol.

One of the rebel directors said on the condition of anonymity, “Our leader is Kheda dairy chief Ramsinh Parmar.”

When asked whether the tussle was for the chairmanship of GCMMF, the rebel federation director said that any of the 10 rebel union chairmen could become the GCMMF chairman.

Parmar, however, said that they had not yet split into a separate group. “But there are several unresolved issues such as release of farmers’ money and BM Vyas’s resignation,” Parmar said. “We did not like the way Bhatol accepted the MD’s resignation without the consent of the GCMMF board. And why is the federation not releasing the money to farmers that it was supposed to disburse?”

The rebels say they have sent a letter to the federation asking for a meeting of the Board of Directors to sort out all issues.

 “The chairmen of some unions met recently in Vadodara and decided to send letter to the MD in-charge, RS Sodhi, asking him to call a board meeting and inform us seven days prior to it,” Parmar said. “We all have so many questions that we want to ask Bhatol.”