Bargarh/Atabira: In yet another incident of poor management in Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (Omfed), the government body charged Re 1 from farmers for sale of each litre of milk.
According to a letter issued by the federation, as some of its processing units have been lying defunct, a major portion of the milk produced by the farmers will be sent outside of the state for preparation of powdered milk and ghee.
The farmers have to bear the charge of transportation and processing, for which, each farmer has to contribute a rupee each per every litre of milk they sell. The amount will be deducted from the total payment due to farmers, the letter said. The direction of deducting the money from the payment of the farmers will continue till August 31, it added.
Copies of the letter have been sent to all milk producers’ cooperative societies.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting attended by the directors of the federation June 3.
Milk producers of the area criticized the decision of Omfed mentioning that true intentions behind its earlier decisions of putting a cap on the procurement limit and a total ban on milk procurement has become clear.
Omfed, which had been formed to bring in a white revolution in the state, has adopted a step-motherly attitude towards milk farmers, they added.
They flayed the cooperative body for its incompetent management which affects the economy of farmers. The federation also incurs a heavy loss due to the inept management.
In order to hide its managerial flaws, the Omfed chooses to put the blame and the burden on farmers, they rued.
Omfed authorities May 12 had refused to accept milk from a number of farmers citing poor quality and adulteration. Later, the authorities imposed a fine on sale of poor quality milk. Even it was decided not to hand over the price of milk to dairy farmers from June 1.
To protest against the stance of the cooperative body, the farmers May 12 spilled over 30,000 litres of milk on road at Gandhi Square. They also damaged a milk-laden tanker at the place the same day.
Bargarh town police registered a case against the milk producers based on a complaint lodged by the assistant manager of the local unit of Omfed, Samir Muduli. The milk producers’ association lodged a counter complaint with the Bargarh superintendent of police against Omfed. PNN
