Shamal Patel re-elected as chairman of GCMMF that market Amul products

Anand (Guj): Dairy cooperative leader Shamal Patel was on Tuesday unanimously re-elected as the chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets milk and dairy products under the “Amul” brand.

The board of GCMMF, India’s largest food products organisation with a turnover of Rs 46,481 crore during the last financial year, met here for the election where Valamji Humbal was also unanimously re-elected as the vice chairman, said the farmers’ cooperative in a statement.

Patel is also the chairman of Sabar Dairy Union, one of the largest dairy unions in the state with annual sales exceeding Rs 6,800 crore and farmer membership of 3.85 lakh milk producers. He is associated with dairy cooperatives of Gujarat for the last 33 years, said the release.

He was first elected as GCMMF chairman in July 2020 and was re-elected on Tuesday after the end of his tenure of two and a half years.

The election was conducted by the deputy collector of Anand in the presence of 17 of the 18 members who represent their district milk unions in the state, the GCMMF said.

Patel’s name was proposed by Ashok Chaudhary, chairman of Mehsana Milk Union, and was supported by Ramsinh Parmar, chairman of Kaira Milk Union, and other member unions of GCMMF.

“GCMMF has thus maintained its glorious tradition of unanimous elections of its chairman since inception in 1973,” the release stated.

The organisation was recently in the news for ousting its long-serving Managing Director R S Sodhi. Later, the MD said he had requested the federation’s board to relieve him of his duties.

GCMMF markets a wide range of milk and milk products under the Amul brand. Its member unions procure an average of 264 lakh litres of milk every day from 36 lakh milk producers in 18,154 villages across Gujarat.

Chairman Patel said it was a great honour for him to lead an institution like GCMMF, which was founded by Dr Verghese Kurien, the architect of India’s White Revolution.

“Dairy cooperatives of Gujarat have been successful for the last seven decades due to high values and standards set by its founder leaders like Tribhuvandas Patel and Kurien.

The combination of dynamic farmer leadership and professional management has made the federation the largest food organisation in the country,” he said.