Amul brings new hope to AP dairy farmers: CM Jagan
VIJAYAWADA: Describing the AP-Amul project as a game changer in the rural economy, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said the objective is women empowerment and improvement in the lives of the dairy farmers.
In his reply to a short discussion on ‘Dairy Industry in Andhra Pradesh - Partnership with Amul’ in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, the Chief Minister said it is meant for revival of cooperative dairy, which was rendered defunct during the regime of Chandrababu Naidu.
He said Amul, the largest cooperative dairy in the country and owned by farmers, stands eighth in the world and competes with MNCs in 50 countries. The profits earned by Amul are distributed to farmers, who are its shareholders, twice a year, besides paying the highest remunerative price in the market.
Jagan said the project was initiated after witnessing the plight of dairy farmers during his padayatra, where the dairy farmers brought to his notice that the price they are getting for one litre of milk was less than a litre water bottle. “During the launch of AP-Amul, women dairy farmers shared their past experience with me. They said at one point of time, they even thought of selling their livestock, but today, the Amul project has infused a new hope and confidence in them,” he explained.
Elaborating on how the cooperative dairy in AP was rendered defunct, Jagan said it was done in a systematic manner by the TDP, paving the way for private dairies. With the cooperative dairy sector in a clueless situation, farmers were left with no option but to sell the milk to private dairies for whatever price they determined.
“Just to safeguard the interests of Heritage, the dairy company owned by him, Chandrababu Naidu, when he was chief minister, brought Andhra Pradesh Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Act (APMACS) and converted six district milk unions into APMACS. Later, district unions Visakha, Guntur, Prakasam were turned into private companies. Further, he ordered closure of Chittoor dairy,” he said, showing the media clips of the orders issued by the Naidu government at that time. He also blamed former chairman of Chittoor dairy BS Rajanarasimhulu alias Dora Babu, an aide of Naidu.
The Chief Minister said the profit graph of Heritage is on the rise whenever the TDP is in power, which is evident from the price of Heritage share in the National Stock Exchange. Flouting norms, the Chandrababu Naidu government made an MoU between Heritage and Bank of Baroda, which is a public sector bank, to provide loans to dairy farmers. With such measures, the dairy sector in the State was totally exploited during the TDP rule, leaving no hope for cooperatives. The TDP government also shut down the Bulk Milk Chilling Units (BMCs) and limited the milk procurement to only 800 villages across the State, he said.
“In order to change the status quo and create a competitive market by strengthening the cooperative dairy sector, we signed an MoU with Amul on July 21, which pays more than the existing price per litre and over 27 lakh women stand benefited, besides supplying quality milk and milk products to the customers,” he said.
The Chief Minister said it will also give the much-needed boost to cooperative movement in the State and strengthen the village economy. “As many as 9,899 BMCs will come up near Rythu Bharosa Kendras. Rs 10 lakh will be spent on each of these BMUs and another Rs 1.4 lakh on each automatic milk collection unit. With an outlay of Rs 3,000 crore, buildings for these facilities will be constructed,” he explained.
In the first phase, the project has been launched in 400 villages of Kadapa, Chittoor and Prakasam districts and later will be expanded to other districts in a phased manner. Earlier, Minister for Animal Husbandry S Appalaraju explained how the dairy sector has evolved over years in the State, cooperative dairy movement, how it was rendered defunct and losses sustained by the sector during the State bifurcation. He said Amul brings new hope to dairy farmers.
CM’s potshots at Chandrababu Naidu
- The cooperative dairy was rendered defunct during the regime of Chandrababu Naidu
- It was done in a systematic manner by the TDP, paving the way for private diaries
- With cooperative dairy in a clueless situation, farmers were left with no other option but to sell the milk to private diaries for whatever price they determined
- Just to safeguard the interests of Heritage, Naidu brought Andhra Pradesh Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Act (APMACS) and converted six district milk unions into APMACS
- Of late, district unions Visakha, Guntur, Prakasam were turned into private companies
- Further, he ordered closure of Chittoor dairy