Farmers to get Rs 3 per litre incentive for milk sold to private cooperatives

Himachal is the first state in the country where the state government is purchasing cow milk at the rate of Rs 51 per litre and buffalo milk for Rs 61 per litre through the Himachal Pradesh Milk Federation. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu made these claims while launching the Doodh Protsahan Yojana and a freight subsidy scheme at Darlaghat in the Arki assembly segment of Solan district today.

He said that under the Doodh Protsahan Yojana, the farmers registered with private milk cooperatives and selling milk to them would receive an incentive of Rs 3 per litre, which would be directly credited to their bank accounts in the DBT mode. The farmers would also receive an instant SMS notification for which a special portal had been developed through the Himachal Pradesh NIC, he added. “The state government is making special efforts to strengthen the rural economy of the state,” he claimed.

The Chief Minister described the day as historic for the state’s livestock farmers and disbursed Rs 1.45 crore via direct benefit transfer (DBT) to 8,000 livestock farmers associated with two private milk cooperatives, namely the Gau Amrit Samiti, Paplota Samiti and the Amrit Dhara Samiti at Darlaghat of Solan district and the Kamdhenu Samiti and the Kehlur Doosh Samiti of Bilaspur district for July and August. They were also provided Rs 1.59 crore as transport subsidy at the rate of Rs 3 per litre, which was Rs 1.50 per litre earlier, thus extending a substantial financial benefit of Rs 18.24 crore every year to the community.

Sukhu also disbursed Rs 28.80 lakh to eight self-help groups under the Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana and Rs 34.20 lakh to 10 progressive milk producers of the Kamdhenu Hitkari Manch, Namhol. He also launched a mobile phone app for the convenience of truck operators.

Rural women, who had gathered in strength, exhibited enthusiasm as the Chief Minister rolled out one scheme after the other to strengthen their economy. He said, “The freight subsidy for milk collected by private cooperatives has been increased from Rs 1.50 per litre to Rs 3 per litre, benefiting thousands of farmers. Milk processing facilities are being expanded through MilkFed.”

He said, “To provide maximum marketing opportunities, a campaign to constitute milk cooperative societies was kick-stated in June this year and 320 milk cooperatives have been established so far. The aim of the government is to form a milk cooperative in every gram panchayat having significant milk availability.”

Health Minister DR Shandil, Agriculture Minister Chaudhary Chander Kumar, MLAs Sanjay Awasthi, Ramkumar, MilkFed Chairman Budhi Singh Thakur and Wool Federation Chairman Manoj Thakur were present on the occasion.