The board of directors of Gujarat Cooperative milk marketing federation Limited (GCMMF) on Tuesday, unanimously re-elected Shamalbhai Patel and Valamji Humbal as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively. GCMMF is the apex body of all the district dairy unions in Gujarat selling milk and dairy products under the brand Amul. The two-and-a-half years terms of the two ended on Tuesday, following which, the elections for the top two posts of the Board, were held at GCMMF headquarters in Anand. The nomination of Patel, who is also the chairman of the Sabarkantha District Cooperative Milk Producers Union (or Sabar Dairy) in North Gujarat, as the Chairman was proposed by Ashokbhai Chaudhary, Chairman, Mehsana district milk union and was supported by Ramsinh Parmar, Chairman of Kaira district milk union. The nomination of Valamjibhai Humbal, also chairman of Kutch District Milk Union (or Sarhad Dairy), was proposed by Mansinhbhai Patel, Chairman, Surat milk union and was supported by Vihabhai Sabhad, Chairman, Surendranagar milk union. The election was conducted by the Deputy Collector, Anand in the presence of 17 out of the 18 members of the Federation, who also representing their respective district milk unions. GCMMF has thus maintained its glorious tradition of unanimous elections of its Chairmen since inception in 1973, an official statement said here. However, sources informed that the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) had issued a mandate for all the dairy chiefs to keep elections unanimous. GCMMF is India’s largest food products organization with annual sales turnover of Rs 46,481 crore recorded for fiscal 2021-22. Currently, the member unions of GCMMF procure an average 264 lakhs litres of milk per day from 36 lakhs milk producers in 18,154 villages of the state. Sabar Union, represented by Patel is one of largest dairy unions of the state with annual sales turnover exceeding Rs. 6,800 crore and farmer membership of 3.85 lakh. While Kutch milk union, represented by Humbal, has annual sales turnover exceeding Rs. 870 crore with farmer membership of one lakh. On his re-election, Patel said, “The dairy co-operatives of Gujarat have been successful since last 7 decades due to high values and standards set by its founder leaders like Tribhuvandas Patel and Verghese Kurien. The combination of dynamic farmer leadership and professional management has made federation the largest food organisation in the country.” Humbal, Vice-Chairman of GCMMF, mentioned that India has become the largest milk producing country in the world due to the replication of Amul model across the country. GCMMF will continue to work in close co-ordination with all to strengthen the co-operative movement and also support milk producers of other States if such a need arises.

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