Milk co-ops log on to IT to enhance performance

After ushering in white revolution in the country, Gujarat’s dairy cooperatives are taking the movement to the next level.

A number of dairy co-ops of the state have joined hands to install common software to professionalise business and monitor milk procurement in various dairies.

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) may play the co-ordinator for selection of software vendor. The federation may help member milk unions purchase the software. The dairy co-ops aim to expand the software to around 13,000 societies in a phased manner.

A centralized data will be created through the system, which will help milk unions monitor the business.

Apart from that, the accounts of the milk business will be on-line. The idea of an uniform software was floated during the last meeting of the programming committee of the federation, said a source.

The move under which all the milk cooperative societies will be equipped with uniform software would led to greater transparency and help immediate data transfer.

Though the project is at a planning stage, member unions hope to set the ball rolling in the next couple of months.

"We have to pay the audit cost to the government. In case of on-line system, it would be easier for government to conduct audit for the village societies. As of now, the planning is going on and the programming committee is mulling the features of the software programme," said Dhiraj Chaudhary, chief executive officer, The Surendranagar District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Ltd., popularly known as Sursagar dairy.

The milk unions will give 50 percent subsidy to cooperative societies for purchasing the programme and each milk union will provide five-day training to the representatives of their societies.

Besides, each union will appoint a supervisor to monitor the system. Above all, there will be monitoring from federation also, a source familiar with the development said.

"Besides, the uniform software will also remove ambiguities in the accounts of the societies and it will be fully customised for milk co-ops. One will able to obtain any kind of information from the programme, which will be used to evaluate and improve performance of the societies," said Ashish Chandra Sinha, managing director, The Rajkot District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd.