The decision to oust R S Sodhi as the managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns the brand Amul, was a political one, according to sources in the federation. At least two people who were in the meeting where the resolution asking Sodhi to relinquish charge was taken on January 9 have confirmed to The Indian Express that it was “a decision by the party (BJP)” and the decision was taken “to safeguard the Amul brand”. Shamal Patel, chairman of the GCMMF who has been incommunicado, confirmed to this paper Thursday, that the decision was “as per what was decided by the board of directors”. The GCMMF has 18 chairpersons heading as many district dairy unions as its members, of which 10 were present in the meeting. “The board decided to end his tenure and hand over the charge to Jayen Mehta (the chief operating officer). It is wrong to create any controversies in this regard,” GCMMF chairman Patel said. “The board had already given extension for the last two years and his service was good. The board felt that Jayen was ready (to take over) and so he was promoted,” said Patel, refusing to take any further questions. Other board members of GCMMF who spoke on conditions of anonymity had a different take on the issue. “A day before the meeting, chairman (of GCMMF) had asked all board members to be present for the meeting. It was during this meeting (that) we were informed that it was the party’s decision to not allow Sodhi to continue,” said another board member who attended the meeting. When asked if Sodhi objected to the sudden decision, the official said, “It is only natural for one to object. But it was a decision from the party and so nothing could be done about it.” Mehta, who was the chief operating officer, has been appointed as interim MD of GCMMF. All 18 milk unions that are members of the GCMMF have BJP-aligned chairpersons. The reasons why Sodhi was asked to resign after a 12-year stint as MD of the GCMMF are not clear, given the terse tone of the letter the GCMMF wrote to Sodhi seeking his resignation, although the minister of state for co-operation told this paper earlier that the resignation was “routine” and that no probe has been instituted against Sodhi. A board member of GCMMF who attended the meeting said, “Asking a reputed person who has been at the helm for over 40 years to suddenly step down is not a small thing. Not all was well within the federation. To safeguard the brand was top priority. That’s all I can say. Secondly, there was opposition from some of the board members to let him continue further.” The board member refused to comment on what were these shortcomings within the federation under his charge. All the 18 district milk cooperative unions in Gujarat that form the board of GCMMF, which is the umbrella body of the milk cooperatives in the state and owns the brand Amul, are controlled by the BJP and have its members as their chairpersons. Only one, the Kaira District Milk Co-operative Producers Union or Amul Dairy, based in Anand, the cradle of the white revolution, has some Congress members in its body. The board members were also not sure of the future course of action the board would take as the tenures of both chairman Patel and vice-chairman Valamji Humbal end later this month. Anand-based Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union is the only milk cooperative to be jointly run by Congress and BJP leaders in the state. While its chairman Ramsinh Parmar (now with BJP) was unable to make it to the meeting due to ill health, a Congress member within the Kaira Union said, “The current situation is a serious one. Members of GCMMF were already against extension being provided to Sodhi and now there are a lot of rumours too.” Coincidentally on Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to set up three new cooperative bodies, which includes the National Cooperative Export Society, the National Level Cooperative Society for Organic Products and the National Level Multi-State Seed Cooperative Society. Amul too was working on developing an “organic” ecosystem. Sodhi had told The Indian Express in February 2022 that Amul was designing a logo for the organic products it planned to launch in the market. It was also planning to set up a laboratory to test and certify organic products. Amul had decided to foray into the organic food segment, after Amit Shah, Union minister for cooperation, during his visit to Anand in November 2021 had urged the dairy behemoth to create testing, distribution and marketing infrastructure for organic products in the country.
