Aiming to herald a white revolution, Punjab Government will invest Rs 80 crore on modernisation and strengthening of the infrastructure of its milk plants across the State.
The decision was taken after the meeting between Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and managing director of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Dilip Rath, who called on Badal at his residence. Badal said that the need of the hour was to bring in diversification of agriculture in Punjab and that dairy farming was a major viable sector.
“Allied farming sector has had a tremendous growth in Punjab as a part of the crop diversification programme because of strong presence of livestock to give a boost to the dairy sector,” said Badal. Expressing State Government’s firm commitment to bring in multi-faceted development in the dairy sector, Badal urged NDDB to chalk out a comprehensive plan to improve the milk procurement system across the State.
He also called for extending technical and marketing skill training designed on scientific lines to workers of milk cooperatives, besides seeking NDDB’s liberal assistance for modernisation of all the nine milk plants in the State. This was to provide the much needed impetus to the state’s rural economy through dairy development that could provide benefits to the state farmers especially the small and marginal ones.
It may be recalled that NDDB has prepared a project report for modernisation of plants to be carried out by it on turnkey basis. During his discussions, Rath assured Badal of fulsome support and cooperation by the NDDB. Badal also asked Milkfed to initiate a vigorous awareness campaign to strengthen the marketing network for sale of milk and milk products not only within the state but also across the country and abroad along with ensuring that remunerative milk price is offered to the milk producers.
He also asked Milkfed managing director to set up Verka kiosks at various strategic locations across the State especially in the educational institutions and other important public places.