Haryana to expand dairy network with 700 new Vita booths, boost support for women SHGs

In a major push to strengthen Haryana’s rural economy and transform its dairy sector, the state government has announced a series of incentives for women self-help groups (SHGs), expanded support for cooperative dairy farming and plans to significantly enlarge the Vita milk distribution network.

Chief Minister (CM) Nayab Singh Saini has revealed this while chairing a review meeting of cooperative federations, including HAFED, the Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Ltd, Vita, Har-Hith Stores, Labourfed and Housefed. Cooperation Minister Dr Arvind Sharma was also present.

700 new Vita booths planned, to offer ice-cream shortly

The government is working on expanding the Vita retail network across the state. Haryana currently has 674 Vita booths in operation. While 318 additional booths are set to become functional shortly, the work is also underway for another 240 booths. With these additions, the total number of Vita booths is expected to cross 1,200 in the coming months.

The expansion is aimed not only at increasing milk sales but also at generating employment opportunities.

At present, cooperative societies procure around five lakh litres of milk daily. Stressing the need for value addition, the CM said the federation must diversify its product range to improve profitability and reduce losses. He also announced that Vita would soon begin manufacturing ice cream.

To make Vita milk more competitive against private brands, the government will provide an additional marketing incentive of Rs 3 per litre.

Modern dairy infrastructure under ‘Sahkar Se Samriddhi’

The Chief Minister said 143 Self-Help Groups had already agreed to market milk through the cooperative network. To realise the vision of ‘Sahkar Se Samriddhi’ (Prosperity through Cooperation), these groups will be provided modern dairy infrastructure, including animal sheds under the Sanjhi Dairies Yojana, enabling them to start dairy operations on a larger scale.

Animal sheds will be built on panchayat land under the shared dairy model, offering common facilities to rural dairy entrepreneurs.

Expansion of dairy processing capacity

The efforts were also on to explore opportunities for marketing Vita milk and dairy products through Indian Railways and defence establishments.

A dairy plant with a processing capacity of 1.5 lakh litres per day is being established at Bawal and would be expanded in phases to five lakh litres per day. Another dairy plant of similar capacity is coming up at Ambala.

The state also plans to set up 21 milk chilling centres with capacities ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 litres to strengthen the milk procurement and supply chain.

Vita booths at railway stations and hospitals

Currently, 75 Vita booths are operating at Haryana Roadways bus stands. The government now plans to establish similar outlets at railway stations, tourist destinations, group housing societies and civil hospitals on the lines of Jan Aushadhi stores.

In addition, 1,400 Harhit Stores will be opened across Haryana, while 300 locations have already been identified in village panchayats for projects linked to Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).

Higher incentives for women SHGs

To encourage greater participation of women in dairy farming, the government has increased the incentive paid to women SHGs registered under cooperative societies by Rs 2 per litre of milk.

Under the revised structure, the winter incentive has been increased from Rs 3 to Rs 5 per litre, while the summer incentive has been raised from Rs 5 to Rs 7 per litre.

The Chief Minister said the move would help enhance the income of women-led dairy enterprises and strengthen the cooperative movement at the grassroots level.

Digitisation of cooperative societies

Highlighting progress in digitisation, the CM said 710 of Haryana’s 800 cooperative societies had already been registered online. Efforts were underway to bring all societies onto the digital platform and introduce online share-transfer services.

He directed officials to upgrade Cooperative Multipurpose Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (CM-PACS) into M-PACS, enabling them to undertake up to 33 different activities, including operation of Common Service Centres (CSCs), sale of cattle feed, seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.

Saini also called for a comprehensive action plan to make cooperative institutions financially sustainable, saying they have the potential to generate employment for every household and significantly strengthen the rural economy.

‘Murrah buffalo is Haryana’s identity’

Describing the Murrah buffalo as the pride and identity of Haryana, the CM emphasised the need to increase milk production through focused interventions.

He directed officials to encourage women’s groups associated with Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) to establish dairy units, saying greater participation of women would play a key role in taking Haryana’s dairy sector to new heights.