G N Saxena: Chanakya of co-operatives retires

Dr Gopal Narayan Saxena, Director of Cooperative Development at the largest farmers’ cooperative IFFCO was given a warm farewell by his colleagues Friday in the Board meeting in Delhi as his extended term came to an end.

Dr Saxena retires after putting in close to 4 decades working with the cooperative behemoth and witnessed many ups and downs the organization experienced in course of its growth. A principal trouble shooter, he could be seen moving from Agriculture ministry to Law Ministry to other arms of the government furthering best interests of the organization.

Dr. U S Awasthi tweeted on Friday “My esteemed colleague #Dr G N Saxena, has #superannuated 2day. His # Invaluable contribution & services to #IFFCO will be always remembered.”

In another tweet the MD wished him best of luck. Dr. U S Awasthi said “ # Dr G N Saxena has left a mark on #IFFCO. I wish him All The Best for his future. May #God Bless him With Good #Health.”

A knowledgeable person about cooperative laws and acts, cooperators from different sectors would consult Dr Saxena to seek clarity on complicated cooperative issues. But he has special mastery over the Multi State Cooperative Act MSCA 2002, people close to him say.

Betraying no signs of sadness Saxena said to Indian Cooperative soon after his farewell” life has many phases and I am entering on a new one. I joined as junior statistician more than 43 years ago and I am retiring today as a functional director from the largest cooperative.”

Being the cooperative development Director, his spacious chamber at second floor of the IFFCO Headquarters in Delhi would see a constant flurry of visitors from across the country. He would meet them sweetly and offer tea even if he was unable to help them in any real sense of the word.

A close confidant of former Chairman Surender Jakhar, Saxena was sometimes accused of preventing people from meeting with MD Dr U S Awasthi. And he would do it without allowing a visitor to smell a rat, recounts a regular to the IFFCO office. Dr Saxena has , however , offered a different explanation for this.

But he remained friendless even after working for so many years in cooperatives. He shared with this correspondent once “there are many people I meet but I am not able to relate to them at a deeper level.” Perhaps suspicion is in the nature of cooperative politics which makes a man incapable of trusting anyone, commented a cooperator.

Popularly known as Doctor Sahib among his friends and fans, Saxena was also the global face of IFFCO whom Dr. Awasthi often detailed to shore up the international image of the organization. But two consecutive discomfitures-first Gowda and then Patel robbed him of his shine, even though he was not solely responsible.

You can hate him, you can love him but you cannot ignore him; Dr Saxena was a hard-boiled cooperator who would never allow anyone to read what is going on in his mind. A clever man who retires untainted by scandals, Dr Saxena would be missed by friends and foes alike.