The Hindu : National : Choosing Amrita as successor was a blunder: Kurien

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 14, 2005

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National

Choosing Amrita as successor was a blunder: Kurien

Special Correspondent

I objected to her designs to corporatise the cooperative movement

Amrita Patel

GANDHINAGAR: The Chairman of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), Verghese Kurien, has regretted the "blunder'' he committed six years ago in selecting his successor to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Mr. Kurien said he had insisted that the Central Government make Amrita Patel the NDDB chairman, when he relinquished office at the age of 77 though the bureaucracy was "eying the post." He claimed that he groomed Dr. Patel for 30 years and thought she had completely imbibed the "spirit of co-operative movement in the country.'' But "I regret, I have been proved wrong.'' Soon after taking over, Dr. Patel began "corporatisation" of the NDDB by setting up joint ventures with private companies for marketing, defeating the very spirit of the co-operative movement. The result was that the profits did not flow back to the producers, affecting the economy of the members.

Mr. Kurien said they parted company because he objected to Dr. Patel's "designs" to "corporatise the co-operative movement." The present turmoil in the IRMA was the ''fallout'' of his differences with Dr. Patel on the "corporatisation'' issue, he said.

Dr. Verghese Kurien

Dr. Kurien, who was here on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, of which he was the Chairman, declined to comment on the on-going tussle over the control of the IRMA as the matter was with the Gujarat High Court. But he saw the "hands of the bureaucracy" in "creating the turmoil in the NDDB" and now in the IRMA.

Accusing "vested interests of some multi-nationals'' of attempting to weaken the strong co-operative base in the country, he said his differences with Dr. Patel had nothing to do with the IRMA, but apparently the IRMA Chairman's "chair attracted some unemployed" and had the support of the bureaucracy, which never appreciated his theory that the Government role should shrink with "increasing co-operatisation."

He denied allegations that he was trying to "stick" to the IRMA Chairman's chair. "At 83, I want to retire but only when the constituent members of the IRMA find a replacement and not because some people want to see me out. If the constituent members want me to continue, I will."

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