Team Herald
PONDA: The Goa Dairy Farmers Committee, which previously fought corruption through legal means, has relaunched its mission to save Goa Dairy.
The farmers Jayant Desai, Ramesh Naik and other farmers briefing the mediapersons said that the committee has demanded immediate elections of the Goa Dairy Board to ensure the dairy’s smooth operations and prevent potential privatisation that could harm farmers’ interests.
They threatened to approach court if the elections are not held within six months as per law.
According to the farmers, they are concerned about the dairy’s losses and alleged that an administrator appointed five years ago lacks expertise, leading to a decline similar to the Sanjivani Sugar Factory.
They claim that the government compensated Goa Dairy for Rs five crore losses incurred during the administrator’s tenure and highlighted the irregularities with the official illegally depositing funds in a troubled bank. They demanded the commencement of the cattle feed plant to ease their difficulties in obtaining subsidised feed.
They alleged that around Rs 15 crore was sanctioned to the Goa Dairy by NDDB for development works. Of the above amount sanctioned, Rs 8 crore was utilised and Rs 7 crore instead of utilising for the dairy’s development, the official illegally deposited it in the troubled bank. The money utilised certificate which is not provided yet, the NDDB is not ready to sanction money for development works.
Despite audit reports indicating administrative flaws, the farmers said that they see no improvements and expressed concern over the government giving step motherly treatment to Goa Dairy by rejecting financial assistance, while at the same time providing Rs 33 lakh financial help to Sumul, a private dairy.
It may be recalled that the committee had launched the mission to save Goa Dairy five years ago against corruption by approaching court.
They pointed out that in the recent AGM Rs 1.5 cr earned on deposits shown as profit in accounts for last financial year.