Even when it comes to showcasing cooperatives on a national level our cooperators somehow fail to make it. The case in point is that of NCCF- the apex consumer cooperative body.
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan flagged off NCCF mobile vans for selling pulses at reasonable prices in Delhi on Wednesday but neither the Chairman Bijender Singh nor the vice-chairman Birendra Singh were to be seen.
“I have already sought permission from the Minister as it was important for me to attend a ICA meeting in Sri Lanka for which I had to catch the flight in the noon”, said NCCF Chairman to Indian Cooperative on phone from Colombo.
“Besides, the govt nominee Sanjay Saraf and several NCCF officials were present on the occasion”, Singh said in defense. Singh said that the project would succeed as NCCF pulses would be sold at Rs 120 a kg.
The Vice-Chairman Birendra Singh told Indian Cooperative that he had no inkling of the programme. Mumbai based Singh takes little interest in cooperative matters these day. He is being gradually sidelined in the national cooperative politics partly because of his own apathy.
These mobile vans run by National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India (NCCF) will sell pulses mainly Tur
and Urad at Rs. 120 /kg in various parts of Delhi. Outlets of Kendriya Bhandar and Safal are already selling pulses in Delhi and NCR at these rates.
Experts however wonder that how NCCF could earn profit by buying pulses from Kendriya Bhandar. Till now it was NCCF which sold pulses to Kendriya Bhandar.
Briefing the media on the occasion, Paswan said that Government has procured about 1,46,000 MT pulses for buffer stock. States Government have been urged to take the pulses from the buffer stock and sell them not more than Rs. 120/kg to ensure availability at reasonable prices. He expressed the hope with the recently increase in the MSP and expected good monsoon pulses production will get desired boost.
