NDDB to Rahul: Need to transfer UP's milk base from West to East

Amethi, UP, Sep 20 (UNI) The National Dairy Development Board has claimed that West Uttar Pradesh would cease to be the bulk producer of milk in the state and efforts should be made to transfer the state's dairy base to East and central parts of the state.

Briefing Amethi MP and AICC member Rahul Gandhi here, NDDB officials said following urbanisation, west UP -- which produces 60 per cent of the state's milk -- would cease to be the bulk producer in the next 30 years. Hence efforts should be made to transfer the milk base to east and central UP. Incidentally, the NDDB is spearheading a dairy project in the VVIP constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli which come in central UP.

UP produces 27 lakh liters of milk daily, out of which 60 per cent comes from western UP.

Addressing a meeting of lawyers here during his three-day visit which ends today, Rahul said the NDDB was initialy hesitant in operating in UP. ''But when they finally agreed, they felt happy about their decision,'' he added.

The NDDB project collects 55,000 litres of milk daily from 550 villages in Amethi and Rae Bareli at an average cost of Rs 13 per litre. The milk is sold direcly to Mother Dairy to be retailed in the National Capital Territory region.

''A total of 16,000 families provide milk to milk collection centres...the payments are made every ten days through the Gramin Bank so that the middlemen are eliminated,'' Rahul said.

In the next two years, the NDDB plans to extend its projects in the neighbouring districts following a good response.

UNI