The election for the Board of Directors in KRIBHCO is slated for 20th May,2010. With the nomination to begin in a day or two things are really hotting up. Nine Board of Directors are to be elected and amidst them, a chairman will be elected. Chandra Pal Singh the present Chairman of KRIBHCO has to quit as he was elected President of NCUI-the apex body of cooperatives in India. KRIBHCO –the farmers cooperative has about 6500 members and participating in a direct election,according to KRIBHCO sources is a difficult proposition. As a result these members elect delegates which would be about 500 in numbers. These delegates cast their votes to elect the Board Members. Gujarat has 275 delegates-the highest number while a state like Bihar has merely 3 delegates. The election of the Chairman will take place on the same day i,e on 20 th May. According to unconfirmed sources NAFED Chairman Dr Bijender Singh is a front runner for the post of Chairmanship of the KRIBHCO,though exact details will start pouring in once the nomination begins. The election takes place by dividing the voters into different constituencies on the basis of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies , middle level agricultural societies and then State level cooperative societies .There are 9 constituencies this time. KRIBHCO is maintaining silence in disclosing the names of the prospective candidates or even the names of the delegates but cooperative biggies are busy moving around the country to woo delegates. KRIBHCO being a successful cooperative venture with many fertilizer plants spread around the country,the interest of people is understandable. But being a peoples’ cooperative it should be more forthcoming in sharing details. Neither the Managing Director Mr B D Sinha nor the Marketing Director Mr N S Rao showed any interest in sharing detail with this reporter. Given its people oriented nature, it is high time the bastion of secrecy is broken. Watch the lines as drama of election unfolds in coming days.
