The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Officials at TRIFED – the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited, a cooperative body associated with the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs – earlier this year stayed away from a meeting called by the body’s chairman with two RSS-affiliated organisations, Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Sahakar Bharati, according to The Indian Express.
A senior official at the Federation – Amit Bhatnagar, General Manager, TRIFED – had responded to TRIFED chairman Ramsinh Rathwa’s note on March 23 asking him and other officials to be present at the meeting by saying that Rathwa was asking for the cooperative staff’s presence “in a meeting of organisations with political aspect”. This, Bhatnagar said, was against service rules “which, inter-alia, provide that every government servant shall, at all times, maintain political neutrality”.
Bhatnagar added that it was incumbent upon officials “not only to maintain political neutrality but…also appear to do so…and not subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner in this regard”.
When the meeting took place on March 28, according to the newspaper, only Rathwa – a former BJP MP – was present from TRIFED. Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram’s main liaison with the government, Sharad Chavan, and Sahakar Bharati national president D.N. Thakur attended the meeting.
The minutes of the meeting reflected discussions about potential collaborations between TRIFED and the two organisations, both of which are described as NGOs engaged in social activities.
When Chavan and Thakur learnt of Bhatnagar’s description of their organisations as ‘political’ they reportedly objected, and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the letter.
“On June 30, the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram sent a legal notice to TRIFED Managing Director Gupta, saying it had been “wrongly presumed” to be “a political organisation”, and demanding immediate withdrawal of the March 24 letter by Bhatnagar,” The Indian Express reported. “On July 24, Chavan wrote to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, saying that the TRIFED letter “tarnishes our nationwide image” and demanding a probe and legal action against the persons responsible.”
On July 22, Bhatnagar reportedly wrote to Rathwa and said his earlier letter “seems to have caused miscommunication and should be withdrawn with immediate effect”. “The aforesaid letter stands withdrawn,” he wrote.
However, Rathwa told The Indian Express that the dispute “is yet to be resolved”. He claimed the “withdrawal” was done by the official in question only to avoid legal trouble.