PONDA: Expressing growing concern over milk sales plummeting by nearly 50 percent, Goa Dairy farmers fear that if this downward trend continues, the dairy may face structural col-lapse and meet the same fate as the defunct Sanjivani Sugar Factory.
They raised serious doubts over the decision-making capabilities of the current management and alleged there was a complete lack of transpar-ency in the dairy’s financial affairs. Addressing the me-dia, former Goa Dairy chairman Anup Desai, alongside other dairy farmers, highlighted the worrying drop in milk sales.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
They pointed out that daily distribution, which stood at around 55,000 to 60,000 litres per day a year ago, has now crashed to just 35,000 litres under the tenure of the government-appointed adminis-trative committee.
Citing instances of arbitrary decision-making, dairy farmer Anup Priolkar stated that the community is deeply concerned over major unauthorised financial expenditures incurred by the administrative committee. This includes the controversial appointment of a highly-paid marketing consultant at an exorbitant fee of Rs 80,000 per day-amounting to a salary of Rs 24 lakh per month. Despite this investment, milk sales continued to decline. When the administrator was
questioned regarding who authorised this high-profile appointment, no explanation was provided.
Anup Desai noted that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had announced an improvised Kamdhenu scheme two days ago, offering subsidies for purchasing up to 20 cows, a hike in milk procurement rates by Rs 10 for buffalo milk and Rs 6 for cow milk.
Dessai said that the CM had also committed to clear support prices every two months. However, while rolling out the incentives, the Chief Minister commented that certain farmers had approached the court over Goa Dairy issues purely for personal benefit.
Welcoming the revised scheme, Desai strongly rejected the Chief Minister’s remarks. “I am one of the farmers who moved the court, and we did so not for personal interest, but to protect the future of Goa Dairy,” Desai clarified.
He alleged that while the government has the power to – appoint an administrator, clear statutory violations are taking place on the ground. “There are strict legal limits on how long an administrator can run the dairy, as well as guidelines governing day-to-day management. For ma-jor financial outlays, obtaining approval from the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or the Registrar of Co-operative Societies (RCS) is mandatory. The present administrator has bypassed these regulations. We approached the High Court due to a total lack of transparency in decision-mak-ing, which could permanently jeopardise the livelihood of Goa’s dairy farmers,” Desai added.
