Govt declares TRIFED MD's suspension null and void

The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry on Saturday declared "null and void" the suspension of the managing director of TRIFED. Ramsinh Rathwa, the chairman of the cooperative body associated with the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, had on Thursday issued an order suspending Geetanjali Gupta for "administrative mismanagement".

Issuing an order on Saturday, the ministry said that Gupta, an additional secretary level officer in the Indian Administrative Service, was appointed to the post of Managing Director, TRIFED, by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

"Therefore, the office memorandum issued by you (Rathwa) on October 19, 2023 whereby the suspension order of Gitanjali Gupta, Managing Director, TRIFED has been issued, is considered null and void," the ministry's order read.


Rathwa's order suspending Gupta had come more than two months after two RSS-affiliated organizations - Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Sahakar Bharati - sought action over a letter by another senior officer of TRIFED identifying them as political bodies.

Following the letter, TRIFED officials had stayed away from a meeting the chairman had called with the two RSS affiliates.

Sources within TRIFED claim that the chairman and the managing director held divergent views on several issues, leading to conflicts between them.

"The chairman is a non-officio member of TRIFED's board of directors and is nominated by the government. Therefore, the chairman doesn't have any powers to take such decisions," a source said.