The superseded Board of National Consumer Cooperative Federation which was till the other day united and fighting the Ministry’s babu together has developed chink in the face of continuing crisis.
Indian Cooperative has learnt that one of the junior Directors has approached Ministry with the proposal to revive the Board and make him the Chairman. Bureaucrats in the Ministry are reportedly mulling over the issue.
Meanwhile, Delhi High Court on May 21 rejected a petition of the NCCF Board for stay on the Ministry’s order. The court in a detailed order held the government order as appropriate and administrator’s appointment as justified.
But we have appealed again and though stay was not permitted, date for the next hearing on the case was given for July 14, said Virendra Singh, the ousted Chairman. “We are not able to meet as all of us are busy in our respective fields. Though I talk to Chandra Palji on phone frequently there is need for all of us to sit down together and thrash out next course of action”, added Mr Singh.
Readers would recall that on 16th May as the counting progressed babus of Ministry presided over a meeting aimed at superseding NCCF Board. It led to widespread protests from cooperators who demanded that action be taken against the guilty but elected board should be regarded sacrosanct. Ministry turned deaf ear at this.
Now the ousted Board members are pinning their hopes on the new government. Attempt to meet Ramvilas Paswan the cabinet minister is going on. The Board can be revived as the Babus decision is yet to get govt approval, said an insider to Indian Cooperative.
I do not aim at becoming Chairman but my interest is confined to revival of the Board, said Virendra Singh. Let them make anybody the Chairman but the elected Board must be restored, he added.
But insiders say that M K Parida, the former MD and current Administrator has made himself comfortable and is in no hurry to hold elections or revive the Board. He has endeared himself with the staffs by giving them sops and NCCF has been converted into a typical Babu’s office, said an insider.