Surat: The election process for 16 seats on the board of directors of Sumul Dairy began on Wednesday with the issuance of nomination forms, setting the stage for a closely watched contest in south Gujarat’s cooperative sector.One of the region’s largest dairy cooperatives, Sumul procures and supplies around 12.5 lakh litres of milk daily through a network of nearly 2.5 lakh cattle farmers and records an annual turnover of about Rs 7,000 crore.As per the election schedule, nomination forms can be obtained from June 10 to June 24, while nomination papers can be filed between June 20 and June 24. Scrutiny of nominations is scheduled for June 27, followed by the withdrawal period from June 29 to July 4.The final list of candidates will be published on July 6. Voting will take place on July 15, and counting of votes will be held on July 17, with results to be declared the same day.With the election process now underway, activity within the cooperative sector is expected to gather pace as various groups begin finalising candidates and panels for the contest.
