In less than four years of reconstruction and rebuilding, the agri co-operative Nafed created history by announcing 20 per cent dividends at its 63rd Annual General Meeting held at NCUI headquarters in Delhi on Wednesday.
Nafed shareholders, who were a depressed lot till yesterday were in for a pleasant shock when Chairman Bijender Singh announced the good news in his own inimitable style. Cheering him on were all the Board Directors on the dais and led by senior co-operator Chandra Pal Singh.
Thanking the delegates for braving Corona scare to participate in the AGM, Bijender Singh said “NAFED has been generating profits for the last three years now accumulating to Rs.670 crore, which is a remarkable achievement which was possible with support from all concerned and various new initiatives taken by NAFED during these years.”
Comparing the year 2007 and today, Bijender traced the tragic history of the Nafed downfall and its rise like a phoenix. Besides others, he thanked Mohanbhai Kundariya, one of the Directors for his crucial role when he was MoS in the Agriculture Ministry. Singh also named union ministers and officers of the Ministry for their support.
“Situations improved and we have an able MD like Sanjeev Kumar Chadha with us, who has led the Nafed to earn a tentative profit of Rs 500 crore”, said Bijender amidst thunderous applause.
The Nafed Chairman also exhorted member societies to enhance their share capital. “In response to our request made in the last AGM, several co-ops have done so and I wish more and more of them increased their share capital with Nafed”, he stated.
Sanjeev Kumar Chadha, MD of Nafed who emerged as the hero behind Nafed’s unprecedented success, thanked the Board and the Ministry for their constant support. Tabling a brief of activities carried out by NAFED during 2019-20 he said the Federation achieved a turnover of Rs 16280.98 crore with a net profit of Rs 165.65 crore.
NAFED continued to be one of the Central Nodal agencies of the Government of India for procurement of
Oilseeds and Pulses under Price Support Scheme, in addition to maintaining buffers of pulses on its behalf. During 2019-20, a quantity of 33,03,157 MT of oilseeds and pulses valuing over Rs 16066 Crores were procured.
Similarly, NAFED procured a quantity of 1,11,697 MT of pulses valuing over Rs 648 crore to maintain buffers on behalf of the Government of India to serve any emergent requirement in the country. NAFED also continued supplying milled pulses to the Army, Central Para Military Forces and to States under different welfare schemes such as PDS, MDM and ICDS schemes across India out of the national buffer of pulses.
The Managing Director NAFED informed that supplies of various agri-commodities, household items, articles towards humanitarian aid/emergency relief material were also made to countries like Iran, Namibia, Myanmar and Bangladesh worth over Rs 15.50 crore at the behest of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
During 2019-20, NAFED undertook seed business worth over Rs 27.44 crore, which was distributed to States across the country under various schemes of the Government of India.
NAFED also procured 58288 MT of onion valuing Rs 76 crore for creating a buffer stock under PSF in the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telangana which was distributed to various States at the time of scarcity besides Government agencies like Safal & Kendriya Bhandar.
During the year, NAFED also stepped in and procured 15,589 MT of Apples of different varieties with a value of Rs 69.38 crore in Jammu and Kashmir under Market Invention Scheme (MIS) of the Government of India.
NAFED procured Paddy, Wheat and Maize across various States worth Rs 773.73 crore. Paddy procurement touched new heights in the States of U.P. W.B. M.P., Uttarakhand and Assam.
The Managing Director informed that in March, 2020 NAFED was appointed central nodal agency to supply pulses under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna to all State/UT Governments during Covid-19 pandemic for the needy & poor people of this country. This work has been done successfully with supply of 1500000 MT of Pulses.
The AGM also saw leaders giving citations and cash awards to performers which among others, included it’s MD Sanjeev Chadha.
While Additional MD Sunil Kumar Singh anchored the AGM proceedings, its Vice-Chairman Dr Sunil Kumar Singh proposed a vote of thanks. Vice-Chairman said that today we are proud to be part of Nafed which could not have been revived without the support of leaders like Chanda Pal Singh, Bijender Singh and others.
