Gujarat: Shamalbhai Patel unanimously elected new chairman of GCMMF

Shamalbhai Patel, chairman of the Sabarkantha District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union, was on Thursday unanimously elected as chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited, the marketing body of the 'Amul' brand of milk and other dairy products.

Valamji Humbal, chairman of the Kutch District Co- operative Milk Producers' Union, also known as Sarhad Dairy, was elected as vice chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF), which has its headquarters in Anand.

Elections to the two posts were held here on Thursday in the presence of chairmen of the state's 18 dairy co- operatives who are also members of the GCMMF board.

BJP leader I K Jadeja, who was appointed as the election observer by the state government, announced that the federation members unanimously accepted the proposal to appoint Patel as GCMMF's chairman and Humbal as vice chairman.

The election was necessitated as the two-and-a-half- year term of the outgoing chairman Ramsinh Parmar and vice chairman Jetha Bharwad ended this month.

After his election to the top post, Patel said his priority will be to ensure better procurement prices for milk producers.

"I will also try to work as per the Amul pattern to develop the dairy and animal husbandry sector," said Patel, who heads the Sabarkantha District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union, also known as Sabar Dairy.

GCMMF Vice Chairman Humbal said the need was to ensure consumers get milk and its products at reasonable prices.

"The Sarhad Dairy was set up when (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. I believe we should not neglect milk consumers. We need to ensure that people get good quality milk and its products at an affordable price," Humbal said.