B K Mishra, a familiar face of Delhi cooperative circuit has been superannuated as the MD of Fishcopfed by the Board. Rejecting the extension given by the BoD to Mishra on 30th June 2020, the concerned ministry directed the Board to let him go after he has completed his term.
In the Board meeting which took place on 30th September Mishra was superannuated following the dictates of the Ministry. The Board has asked Mishra to continue till a suitable alternative is found.
The decision of the Ministry was taken on a complaint by one of the employees of Fishcopfed Ather Parwez Ansari, who went against the Board decision to the Ministry. Ansari, a Deputy Director in Fishcopfed claimed to be the senior most capable of replacing Mishra. “Unaware of the co-operative laws, the Ministry prevailed on the Board to superannuate the MD”, Mishra’s associates claim.
The in-charge MD, meanwhile, is fighting his case before the Central Registrar. Mishra has solid points in his favour, say his associates at the Fishcopfed. The Central Registrar has asked the two sides to place their arguments.
Mishra’s associates quote a number of cases where the Board has given extension to MD time and again. In case of Mishra this is the first time he was given extension, which was necessitated because of Covid, argue Mishra’s sympathisers.
Mishra’s side also argues that there is no single Director in the Fishcopfed currently and the highest officers available in house are two Deputy Directors. None of them are in a position to take over, given their limited exposure to the top job, they say quoting Mishra’s experience including his engagement with the ICA committee on fisheries co-ops.
Meanwhile, in a retaliatory move the Fishcopfed management has given compulsory retirement to Ansari. The Service Rule book, available with us states that the management is very much within its rights to remove a person on the charge of non-performance. Ansari is charged for refusing to go to Jaipur when he was transferred by the Management. Ansari has gone to the court against his dismissal and the next hearing is slated for 23rd February, 2021.
Mishra, meanwhile, is ready to accept whatever the Central Registrar rules. I am a trained engineer and an IIFT Management Graduate, I can do hundreds of things for myself, he said while recounting his contributions to Fishcopfed during his tenure.
“I turned around the organization and built the largest data-base of fishermen in the country. I insured more than 40 lakhs fisherman for the first time in the country”, claimed Mishra.
