Milkfed to get ₹90 cr for clearing dues

CHANDIGARH: To pay up the pending payments of dairy farmers, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday directed the finance department to make available a short-term advance of ₹90 crore to Milkfed. He has also ordered Milkfed to chalk out a policy to suggest ways and means to ensure uniform milk prices across the state.

The instructions were issued at a meeting with a delegation of Progressive Dairy Farmers Association (PDFA). The CM has constituted a four-member committee to evolve a time-bound action plan to implement a uniform milk price structure and remove glaring price-disparities in different districts. The committee headed by Milkfed managing director (MD) Manjit Singh Brar, will have director dairy development Inderjit Singh, secretary, animal husbandry Captain Karnail Singh, and president PDFA Daljit Singh Gill as its members.

Earlier, the Milkfed MD apprised the CM that the fall in prices of milk was primarily due to lower milk procurement than their processing capacities by private players. He pointed out that Milkfed’s share in total milk procurement from dairy farmers was 20% while the remaining 80% was supposed to be lifted by private companies. But the failure of these companies to lift the remaining has forced Milkfed to enhance its quota of milk procurement by another 5 lakh litre everyday at remunerative prices to assist the dairy farmers.

CM AMARINDER SINGH DIRECTS FINANCE DEPT TO MAKE AVAILABLE SHORTTERM ADVANCE