Rajasthan women dairy farmers overwhelmed by applauds by PM

Udaipur : Representing over 1.7 lakh milk farmers of Rajasthan at World Dairy Summit 2022, women Chairpersons of four milk producers’ organizations said, “while on one hand we are applauded by Hon’ble Prime Minister and global experts, on the other end, we are deeply distressed by the discriminatory treatment and denial in the state government’s financial support scheme given to the co-operatives.”

“What wrong we have done? Why are we being denied? The Rs. 5/litre subsidy given to cooperatives when we have created our own organizations on the principles and philosophy of cooperatives and are recognised by Shri Modi’s government as truly the farmer’s organizations,” Smt. Mamta Chaudhary, Paayas Dairy (Jaipur), Smt. Manjeet Kaur, Sakhi Dairy (Alwar) and Smt. Kanya, Asha Dairy (Udaipur) told newsmen on the side-lines of the summit inaugurated by Shri Modi on Monday.

After unveiling their own value-added products such as ghee, paneer and curd before the global experts, these Chairpersons said, “Modi ji has said that 70% contribution in milk production is from women in India. Three of these four organizations are totally owned by women from rural Rajasthan while the fourth one has a substantive stake holding by the female milk producers. And today, denial of subsidy is putting on the verge of extinction.”

Smt. Kanya, Chairperson, Asha Dairy said, “we do our business in Jodhpur also which is the constituency of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot ji. From Udaipur, we cover five districts. Shri Gehlot ji should appreciate our efforts and feel our pain.”

When asked these women dairy leaders said, “We have represented to the Hon’ble Chief minister; we have made public our problems, but we haven’t got any response yet from the state government, which is announcing continuously benefit schemes for different segments of people in Rajasthan.”

To provide financial help for the welfare of milk producers of Rajasthan, ‘Mukhyamantri Dugdh Sambal Yojna’ was announced in the FY19-20 state budget, under which the state government gave a grant of Rs. 2 per litre to the cattle owners for supplying milk in the cooperative milk producers’ unions of the state. In the recently presented budget of the fiscal 2022-23, it has been announced to increase with subsidy on milk from Rs. 2 per litre to Rs. 5 per litre under the said scheme.

The four organizations have been established by the dairy farmers by investing their own money as share capital. They said that these four farmer organizations jointly collect over 10 lakh kilograms of milk every day from their members for which payments are made directly into their bank accounts in a cycle of three times a month.

The four organizations are paying up to 85% of sales proceeds to the member farmers in lieu of the milk purchased from them

They said that Union Agriculture ministry in an advisory dated March 23, 2012 to the state governments had stated, “the Producer Companies combine the institutional strengths of cooperative principles with the flexibility, autonomy and transparency of company and a cooperative society. In view of this, the Union Government advised states to consider extending concessions/benefits to such organizations formed by farmers at par with cooperative societies.”

The four organizations have operations in and around 22 districts out of the total 33 districts of the state. Asha, Sakhi and Ujala Dairy have 100% participation by women producers.

They pointed out “for the convenience of the cattle rearers, our organizations also provide ancillary services such as fodder seeds, cattle feed, mineral mixture, artificial insemination, etc., helping producers to enhance milk productivity and their remuneration.”

With folded hands, they made a passionate appeal to Shri Gehot ji and his government to extend the benefit of Mukhyamantri Dugdh Sambal Yojna and pointed out that Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath ji, who had inaugurated all-women producer organization Balinee in Bundelkhand, had as a matter of proud mentioned before the global dairy experts as to how Balinee is proving to be a harbinger of development in the backward region and said the state would help creation of five more such organizations by dairy producers to give a fillip to economic improvement or rural areas.