Utterly unbutterly

THE fact that laws which govern the cooperative sector havealways left successful cooperatives tantalisingly within thereach of political leadership has once again come to the fore inGujarat. The almost idyllic calm at Amul, the most successfulof such ventures in the country, was shattered when it wasrudely shocked by certain steps taken by the Bharatiya JanataParty (Bip) -ruled state government.

The largest dairy cooperative in the country was joltedwhen the state government invoked two clauses, sections 80(1)and 80(11), of the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961. Thisenabled the government to foist three of its nominees and abank representative on to the 13-member board of directorsduring the board elections last October.

The board, 91though apolitical, has always enjoyed thepatron 'age of the majority, the Congress-backed nominees. Inthe October elections, while Congress won eight of the13 seats, BJP-supported nominees won four, the last electedmember being an,independent. By introducing four newnominees later (through invoking the two clauses) and byreportedly 'gaining the confidence' of the independent, theBJP-supported group stood at nine, thereby attaining majority.

Before elections for the chairperson of the Board (scheduled for November 22) could be held, one of the Congress-backed elect6d members, Ramsinh Parmar, filed a writ andobtained a stay order from the Gujarat High Court. The writprayed that as the Gujarat government was not a financialguarantor to any loans taken by the Kaira District CooperativeMilk Producers Union Ltd (the parent body of Amul), it couldnot impose itself upon the cooperative.

The Union had borrowed over Rs 200 crore from funds ofthe Operatioh Flood scheme, to finance a new dairy andcheese processing plant. In April '95, they had shifted theguarantee of Rs 84 crore to the National Dairy DevelopmentBoard (NDDB) and its marketing wing, the GujaratCooperative Milk Marketing Federation. This move meantthat the Gujarat government's last claims to beinga financialguarantor were surely obliterated.

Following the writ, the deputy collector of Anand suspended the elections for the chairperson on the ground thatthe stay. on the appointment of the government representatives took away their right to vote in the elections.

This 'interference' from the local administration, whichwas seen by many as the orders of the state government, was possible via an amendment to the Act in 1982. This providedlocal collectors with the power to hold elections for thecooperatives.

On his part, the father of the country's white revolutionand NDDB chairperson, Vefghese Kurien, said that politicalworkers had never contested for seats on the boards Tata Iron& Steel Company, Reliance Industries or the Godrej group.So, how could they now contest for seats on the board of acooperative, he asked, commenting upon the BJP's attempts to'hijack' the Amul board.

His opinion, that political parties did not have aplatform on how best to run a cooperative, which was abusiness enterprise, and his claims that it was this kind ofinterference that had cost the nation a generation of agriculture sector-driven economic growth, may have hit the nailbang on the head.

In the cooperative movement, Amul certainly shines as theperfect example of how people's collective power can succeed,regardless of the odds. And with professionals managing itsaffairs, it is today not only a market leader that has producedhigh quality milk, butter, cheese, cheese spreads, chocolates,and baby-food, to name a few products in the country-widemarket, but a brand name that is clearly well prepared to dealwith the coming competitiveness of the liberalised openeconomy.

Thus, whether the aim of political parties is to gain controlof, and thereby tap the 1.0 1 crore votes of the members ofAmul's 50,000 associated cooperative societies for the generalelections, or to destabilise a market leader, thereby servingsome unknown vested business interest, this move quiterightly received the nasty reaction it merited.

The ensuing hue and cry made the Bip highcommand situp and issue directives to the state government to pour oilover troubled waters. While the chief minister, Suresh Mehta,has ensnared himself in an utterly messy situation, Anand andits sylvan surroundings grimly await the outcome of the courtcase.

But there is clearly the need for having a Central legislationthat does not lend itself to the kind of diabolic manipulationthrough state proviso that has been seen in this instance, If thecooperative sector too is left open to political intrigues, the daymay not be far off when multinational purses will buy theirway to its boards through lavish patronage, which, after thehawala scandal, seems to be all that matters. to our leaders. Somuch for swadeshi!