BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for MSME Pratap Sarangi on Tuesday requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to direct the Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (Omfed) to resume normal milk procurement from dairy farmers of the State.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, Sarangi explained the plight of dairy farmers due to abnormally low procurement of milk by Omfed after imposition of lockdown. “Ever since the lockdown, Omfed has substantially reduced its milk procurement due to severe demand squeeze. The local market has its own limitation in creating the requisite demand for milk in the prevailing situation,” Sarangi said.
The dairy farmers are facing hardship to meet the fodder requirement of the cattle. In the absence of buyers, they are forced to spill their milk as they do not have processing facility in their localities.
In a separate letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Sarangi requested for financial assistance to railway porters to sustain their livelihoods during the lockdown. “I have been receiving appeal from the registered coolies of Railways from across states, including Odisha, requesting urgent measures to ameliorate their condition as all of them have been rendered jobless due to complete suspension of train services in the prevailing lockdown,” the letter said.