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Delhi Milk Scheme rubbishes committee report on mismanagement of affairs
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Monday, 19 September, 2011, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Irum Khan, Mumbai
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The general manager of Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS), Dr B S Beniwal, has sharply reacted to the statement made in the Twenty-Fourth Report on Demands for Grants (2011-12) pertaining to the Ministry of Agriculture (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries), tabled by the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha session.
DMS is a service organisation set up in 1959 with the primary objective of supplying wholesome milk to the citizens of Delhi at reasonable prices as well as for providing remunerative prices to milk producers. It functions under the purview of the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries.
The report presented in the LS had observed that DMS continued to make losses year after year due to mismanagement, continued neglect of affairs of the organisation, and obsolescence of plant and machinery. “It is continuing to suffer and is not able to function at its optimal best in stark contrast to other players in milk and dairy products market,” the committee, strongly stated.
It recommended the government to immediately make a one-time infusion of capital for acquisition of state-of-the-art-machinery and equipment at the earliest to ensure that the DMS was restored to a flourishing, profit-making entity like Mother Dairy and others.
Dr Beniwal, however, did not seem to be happy with the comments made in the report and said that DMS was a service organisation set up to serve the people. He explained that when other big names in the industry offered milk at Rs 38 per litre (full cream buffalo milk), DMS offered milk at Rs 35 per litre. Given that it produces around four lakh litre of milk every day, it incurs a loss of at least Rs 12 lakh.
“We can easily raise the price, and we are contemplating on the same, but it's finally agriculture ministry's call. We are not the price-deciding authority,” said Dr Beniwal.
He further said that the staff of 3,000 employees, recruited when the organisation was set up, has now been reduced to 1,000. In addition, DMS has 600 booths, 15 distributors and 20 retailers. “Is taking care of 1,000 plus families, a loss or a public service,” the GM questioned.
He said that DMS was able to reach the grassroot levels where some big names had not entered due to the cost factor involved.
Though he did agree that the organisation met with an annual deficit of Rs 20 crore, but he compared the loss with the Indian Airlines which incurred a yearly deficit of Rs 768 crore. “We cater to the lower strata of society, while the Indian Airlines serves the affluent class,” Dr Beniwal claimed.
Talking about upgrading technology in accordance with the recommendation of the standing committee, he opined that DMS was comfortable with technology it had and said that more automation would take away the work of the labour. However, he stressed that more attention was needed to improve the livestock for increasing the production.
Dr Beniwal also rubbished the allegation about mismanagement and neglect of affairs and said that such statements needed to be proved authentically.
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