With a view to giving a fillip to dairy development in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has held wide ranging discussions with Chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Dr Amrita Patel at Patna recently.
Chairing a high-level meeting, where Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi and Managing Director of NDDB D Tikku were also present, Mr Kumar said he would like the NDDB to play a proactive role in strengthening dairy cooperative and making them a more meaningful and sustainable occupation for millions of milk producers in the state, a NDDB release said here today.
During the meeting, Mr Kumar commended the substantial financial, technical and managerial assistance provided by the NDDB in earlier years.
Responding to the Chief Minister’ request, Dr Patel said the NDDB would willingly provide assistance, including technical and managerial support, to existing dairy cooperatives in Bihar so as to enable them to better serve their members and by promoting a plurality of new producer institutions that remain true to cooperative values.
It was agreed that the NDDB would assist Bihar in preparing a road map for investing close to Rs 700 crore to enhance milch animal productivity and increase cooperative milk procurement, processing and marketing from a current level of 6 lakh kilogram to 40 lakh kilogram per day by 2021-22.
It was also agreed that the NDDB would assist the Bihar State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (COMFED) and milk unions in Bihar to improve efficiency in operation so as to be able to cope up with competition from private players.
At the request of the Chief Minister, the NDDB also agreed to recommend changes in the state Cooperative Acts so as to enable cooperatives to enjoy the required business autonomy and have level-playing field with competitive private firms, the release added.
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