Rajkot dairy issues notices to 30 co-op societies for milk adulteration
In the past 8 months, Rajkot dairy has discarded 186,000 litres of adulterated milk costing over Rs 65 lakh
Rajkot District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited, also known as Rajkot Dairy has issued notice to 30 dairy cooperative societies (DCS) for alleged adulteration in milk, top officials informed.
The Rajkot dairy had earlier warned the DCS to stop malpractices, however some members of DCS continued mixing in milk despite Rajkot dairy's warning. Hence, the management decided to restrict these DCS from supplying milk for a period of seven days.
"Some time back, a few of the DCS members were found indulging in malpractices in milk. We had warned them to stop mixing but they continued it despite our instructions. At last, we've decided to restrict 30 DCS from supplying milk for a week and also issued them notices to stop adulteration in milk, else face permanent restriction on milk supplies to the dairy," said A C Sinha, managing director of Rajkot Dairy.
Rajkot dairy procures milk mainly from 14 talukas (tehsils) with 716 functional DCS including 366 women DCS and also from four other districts namely, Junagadh, Amrelli, Porbander and Jamnagar.
"We have talked to these 30 DCS and asked them to convince their members not to indulge in malpractice. Because of a few members, other have to suffer. Right now, we have issued notices and stopped procurement from these DCS. But if they will not stop mixing, we will extend the restriction to 21 days from December 24 onwards," said Sinha.
In the past eight months, Rajkot dairy has discarded 186,000 litres of adulterated milk costing over Rs 65 lakh.
By issuing notice, Rajkot dairy has also instructed individuals that if anyone found to be mixing, they will be fined with Rs 500 per can of milk.
Rajkot dairy has recorded a turnover of about Rs 383 crore for the year 2011-12, showing an increase of 26 per cent over previous year. Moreover, the dairy has registered a net profit of Rs 2.14 crore. In the past one year, the dairy has paid Rs 57 crore towards milk procurement from farmers.
The milk is procured from the small scale producers from these talukas and is sent to their nearest chilling centers. Rajkot dairy has five chilling units each at Wankaner, Jamkandorna, Lajai, Vichhia and Majevadi besides one composite dairy plant located at Rajkot.