Mountaineer Megha Parmar dropped as brand ambassador of MP dairy federation

A week after Mountaineer Megha Parmar was removed as brand ambassador of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign in Madhya Pradesh, she has now been dropped as the brand ambassador of State Cooperative Dairy Federation.

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government took this step after she joined the Congress on May 9.

Parmar, 28, had been associated with the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign since 2019 and was also made the brand ambassador of State Cooperative Dairy Federation Limited (MPSCDF).

Confirming the report, Parmar told IANS that she received an order from MPSCDF regarding termination of her contract as the brand ambassador for Sanchi brand products.

"No reason has been given to me for terminating the contract, despite my dedicated work to perform the role as a brand ambassador for the Sanchi brand right to the level of individual dairy farmers. All this is happening since I joined Congress," she added.

According to May 15 correspondence signed by the Federation's Deputy General Manager (Marketing), the August 2022 contract which assigned Megha the role of brand ambassador of the Sanchi brand is being terminated.

Earlier on May 10, the state women and child development department, had issued an order to relieve all previous brand ambassadors/gender champions of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, including Megha Parmar of their duties/responsibilities.

"I am the proud daughter of a farmer father and have been helping him in dairy farming since childhood days. I know every nitty-gritty of it, due to which I was religiously working for the promotion of the Sanchi brand, right from encouraging farmers and small dairies in individual villages to give their milk produce to the state cooperative federation only.

"I had also worked with the Federation in re-starting a scheme (possibly from June) aimed at promoting the birth of girls, under which parents of every newborn girl child would be gifted the Sanchi Ghee, thus establishing an integral bond between the girl child and the Sanchi brand. Still, I don't know why the August 2022 contract, which was for a period of three years, has been terminated suddenly, possibly as I joined the Congress."

Megha Parmar (who hails from CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's home district Sehore) along with another Bhawna Dehariya (from Chhindwara district) had successfully scaled Mount Everest in 2019. She was appointed the brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign by the Congress government-led by Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh in 2019.

She had joined the Congress in Nath's presence in Chhindwara district during the launch of Congress's Nari Samman Scheme on May 9 and speculation is rife about her being in race for a Congress ticket from one of the Assembly seats of Sehore district. [IANS/NS]