Punjab Government has prepared an expansion plan for its milk cooperative — Milkfed — aimed at strengthening the government institutions and give boost to the cooperative movement. As a part of the same, as many as 625 new Verka milk booths will be opened across the State, besides opening a permanent office in the NCR (National Capital Region) to expand the scope of Verka products.

The state Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, who chaired the meeting in which these decisions were taken, said that considering the increasing demand for Verka products, “there is a plan to open a total of 1000 new booths in Punjab, of which 625 booths were approved in the first phase today”.

“These places come under various government departments of the state for which all the administrative secretaries have been asked to allot booths. With this, while youth will get employment, people will get Verka products at their doorstep,” said the Chief Secretary.

He asked the Milkfed officials to identify places where there is high footfall and high demand for opening booths in the second phase. Apart from this, it was also asked to advertise Verka products aggressively.

To expand the scope of Milkfed in the NCR (New Delhi-Gurgaon-Noida), the Chief Secretary approved the opening of a new office in New Delhi, for which he asked the PWD Secretary to identify sites at Nabha House.

Janjua said that in 2021-22, 19.17 lakh liters of milk was procured per day (LLPD) and 11.01 lakh liters of packed liquid milk was sold per day. Milkfed has set a target of purchasing 29 LLPD and selling 18.50 LLPD of packed liquid milk by the next five years (2026-27).

It was decided to increase the number of checking mobile vans to prevent adulteration of milk and milk products in the State so that the campaign against adulteration can be strengthened at the ground level. Similarly, it was considered to authorize veterinary officers to draw samples of milk, milk products and other food stuff as per the provisions of FSSAI act.