Five milk coops seek removal of Sumul Dairy chairman

The five members who have written the letter are Naushir Pardiwala, President, Parnershwar Milk Producing Cooperative Society, Mangrol; Yusuf Shaikh, President, Vareli Milk Producing Committee Society, Mandvi; Ramesh Gamit, Bhadbhuja Milk Producing Cooperative Society, Uchhal, Tapi; Raisingh Chaudhary, President, Bodha Milk Producing Cooperative Society, Mandvi; Dalpat Chaudhary, President, Junvani Milk Producing Cooperative Society, Bardoli.

In the letter, the members said they have been supplying milk for a very long time to Sumul Dairy, which has 16 directors including Chairman Mansinh Patel and Vice Chairman Raju Pathak.

“Patel misused his post by giving the contract to the Rudra Enterprise for supplying propylene bags. He indirectly got financial benefits through the contract. It is a violation of the Gujarat Cooperative Society Act, Section 76 (b). He should be removed from the post. We have sent a letter to the state government and the central government and hope action is taken. If no action is taken in a few days, we will file a petition in the High Court.

Everybody knew about this and even the board of directors did not object,” Naushir Pardiwala told The Indian Express. The dairy, the letter highlights, is running under the Cooperative Society Act. Mansinh Patel was elected as the chairman in 2020.

The members further mentioned the contract was given through Rudra Enterprise of Bardoli, which has been procuring material from Som Industries of Navsari since May 29, 2021. Under Section 76(b) of the Gujarat Cooperative Society Act, the directors of the society should not be directly or indirectly involved in the financial benefits. If such a director is found indulging in such activities, he should be driven out from the post of director of the cooperative society, the letter said. Mansinh Patel’s two sons — Parth Patel, and Krupal Patel — are partners in the Som Industries with 20 per cent share each, as per the claims.

While Pawan Mistry holds contracts in different departments of Sumul, his son Vasu Mistry and Bharat Patel are also partners in the firm. Rudra Enterprise is a sister concern of Som Industries and owned by Vasu Mistry.

Giving details about the operations, Mansinh Patel said, “Our dairy has around 2.50 lakh cattle farmers, linked with 1,200 milk cooperative societies in Surat and Tapi districts. The daily collection is around 21 lakh litres through Mandli (societies). The annual turnover of the dairy is around Rs 4,200 crore. Apart from Surat, the dairy also had milk collecting and selling centres in Goa and Maharashtra. Daily,around 12.50 lakhs of milk pouches are sold in Surat and other districts in South Gujarat, along with 3 lakh pouches of buttermilk, 20 tons of ghee, and 25 tons of curd.”

In response to the claims against him, he added, “The allegations levelled at me are baseless. The work order is given as per tendering procedures and we have not favoured any firm. I don’t want to speak more into it.”
Arun Purohit, Managing Director, Sumul Dairy, refused to comment on the matter.