FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
SANTOSH NAIK
It was four years ago that Goa Dairy (GD) had suffered a massive loss to the tune of Rs 5 crore. This was the issue that dominated the deliberations of the Goa Dairy Annual General Body Meeting (AGM). Thereafter, for two consecutive years, GD earned a profit. However in the year 2019-20, it was back to problems given that it suffered a loss of Rs 6.41 crore.
The only difference between this crisis and the earlier crisis is that four years ago, GD was being managed by the Board, whereas since the last year and a half, it was being run by an Administrator. According to the farmers, the conditions at GD were better during the tenure of the Board and it has worsened under the tenure of the Administrator. The farmers believe that the losses were not related to the operations but due to sheer mismanagement. They added that they were not only unhappy because of the massive loss but also because the sale of Goa Dairy milk had drastically reduced during the last year and a half that has seen four administrator terms.
Therefore, at the moment, the farmers are demanding that elections are held to elect a fresh Board and for the administrator to be removed. They also pointed out that government officials do not have the expertise or experience to run the Dairy and thus it was imperative that the farmers elect the Board.
They also point out that GD needs to learn the lessons of the past before undertaking a correction course in the future.
For instance, they recall how GD has been plagued with issues such as high cost of operations or scams that were filled with allegations and counter allegations from stakeholders. The farmers also staged many agitations against price hike in cattle feed rates, which has burdened them as well.
It may be recalled that the Government had launched many schemes for improving the milk production, which included the Kamdhenu scheme that was initiated by former Chief Minister (late) Manohar Parrikar.
Goa`s current requirement of milk in the market is around 3 lakh litres per day. However GD, which was expected to increase its sale to above 1 lakh litres a day from 71,000 litres per day, has moved in the opposite direction and instead reduced its sale to 52,000 litres per day. However, the consumers of the State are not affected as it’s not like they are not getting their daily supply of milk. The rest of the milk, which is not supplied by GD, is supplied by other brands including the heavyweight in this sector, SUMUL.
This has irked farmers given that GD has failed to meet the market requirements, and that demand is not the issue, just the supply part from their end.
While the decrease in sale figures has correspondingly affected the sale figures, the cost of operations is still high and the farmers feel that the situation has to be brought under control now, if not, it will spiral out of control and into a loss-making trajectory that will make it hard to recover from.
They point out that when the GD Board was running the operations, though the Dairy was suffering a loss, at least there was a sale of 71,000 litres per day.
“The situation was far better when it was under the board. After all, the livelihoods of the farmer depend on the fortunes of Goa Dairy and now the farmers are scared that they will suffer the same fate as the Sanjivani Sugar factory farmers,” said farmer Jayesh Dessai. Farmers like Jayesh insist that the massive loss of Rs 6.41 crore is enough grounds for the administrator to be removed and for the holding of elections to appoint a new Board.
It may be recalled that last year the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS) disqualified eight GD Board Directors and Managing Director for mismanagement in the purchases of raw material, machinery, losses in the 2015-16 year and other faults following complaints from farmers.
What’s interesting is that back then, the farmers had heaved a sigh of relief when the government had appointed an Administrator for Goa Dairy and they felt that the corruption element would be put to rest and things would fall in place. Incidentally, they were under the impression that the administrator would last only for six months as that is usually the term of such an government appointment and then later elections would be held, which would ensure that the farmers get their voices and due representation in the decision making process. However, there has been over four terms of administrators and the farmers lament that nothing much has changed and are upset with the delay in holding elections for the GD Board.
Besides the 16,000 farmers who are worried about their future, there are around 300 GD employees too who earn their living here. The employees too have been demanding that the seventh pay scale is implemented for them.
According to Goa Dairy former Chairman Anup Desai, Goans, including GD stakeholders such as farmers, employees and customers, have always wished that GD or the Goa State Milk Producers Union, which has been reputed for producing and fresh milk to Goans, follows the path of development and becomes financially sound. He added that GD has a lot of attachment to Goans and he hopes the company can make a successful turnaround while listing out its major hurdles and faults so far.
“After the cleanup in Goa Dairy, the farmers and stakeholders were expecting Goa Dairy would run on the path of profit making under Administrators. But the farmers have been left disappointed,” he added.
Farmers also referred to how the cattle feed plant also started accumulating losses but the administrators and farmers could not agree on the solution either, with the administrators increasing the price of cattle feed, which the farmers strongly opposed, claiming that the cost of raw materials had reduced.
According to a member of the farmer’s appointed inquiry committee, Vikas Prabhu, the earlier Board needed to be dissolved because of all that had happened in the past. “However, a fresh election needs to be held so that an honest board can run Goa Dairy and bring it back on track. There is no need now for administrators who have failed to meet expectations anyways. Just because some old directors are approaching the court challenging their disqualification, it doesn’t mean the elections for the board should be kept pending. In fact, it should happen immediately to save GD from suffering further losses,” he added.
The inquiry committee president Dattaprasad Savordekar also rejected the claim made by the Chairman of the three-member Administrative Committee Durgesh Shirodkar, that GD earned a profit of Rs 2.40 crore during his tenure of seven months.
“This is baseless. In fact, the sale of milk was reduced and the cost of operation was also high during his tenure. Without conducting an audit, how is he making any claim of earning a profit,” said Dattaprasad, while echoing the demands of the other farmers.
However, Shirodkar, the GD Administrative Committee Chairman, has insisted that during his tenure from April 2020 to October 2020, GD earned a profit of Rs 2.40 crore because of the cost cutting measures he employed every month.
On another contentious matter of holding the AGM, he pointed out how the AGM for the financial year 2019-20 was scheduled to take place on December 27, 2020 but it was postponed as it coincided with the AGM of the Goa State Cooperative Members.
It was then rescheduled to January 17, 2021, however, it was postponed again as some farmers called it illegal claiming there was no approval from the RCS. Shirodkar said he will reply to all the queries raised by the farmers after the RCS fixes a date for the AGM.
According to farmers, the AGM now proposed to be held on January 31 will be a stormy one. Issues surrounding the losses, ice cream and cattle feed plant are likely to be raised. Further, they point out that the auditory that had been appointed by last year’s AGM has been changed by the Administrator. But mainly, it is their demand for the elections and removal of the administrator that is likely to dominate proceedings.
