MUMBAI: Having already lost out on a series of mega projects which got allocated to other states, Maharashtra is now set to lose the once-profitable Mahananda Dairy to the Central government.
According to the state government, the Mahananda Dairy will be soon handed over to the Centre-run National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Maharashtra dairy minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil attributed the decision to the state government’s inability to run the firm.
“We did not want to hand over the Mahananda Dairy to a private trust or company, and as such, decided to rope in NDDB. The talks are at the final stage. However, NDDB told us that they will only accommodate 350 employees of Mahananda Dairy out of the total 940 employees. Mahananda Dairy is very much in trouble and not even able to pay the salaries of its employees,” Patil said.
NCP MLA Jitendra Ahwad said, “There were several key Central government offices in India’s financial capital Mumbai, but these offices are also either shifted being to Gujarat or Delhi. Mahananda Dairy was once a profit-making entity. It owns a big chunk of land in Mumbai. I am afraid that by handing over the Mahananda dairy to the Central government, they may hand over the land as well. Why should Maharashtra be deprived of all these resources?”
Meanwhile, 16 lakh state government employees have threatened to go on strike from Tuesday if their demand for the restoration of the old pension scheme is not fulfilled even as CM Eknath Shinde appealed to them not to do so.