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Aid for State co-ops to set up new business entities -- NDDB to set up auction market in Bangalore

Vinod Mathew

ANAND, Oct. 27

THE National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) feels it is time for the various State co-operative federations to become independent business entities. The apex body has fired its first salvo by identifying Guntur and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh as cand idates to become the role models in this respect.

NDDB would be helping the co-operative federations in these two districts to return the Government funds and set up the new entities on the lines of private business houses.

Ms Amrita Patel, chairman, NDDB, said this initiative would enable the co-operative federations to choose a chief executive officer strictly on merit instead of getting a Government nominee as fait accompli for the key position. The new Act passed by the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh would also mean the freedom to hire and fire as in the private sector, she said.

``The parallel legislation enacted by the four State governments will enable the people in the district and State federation level co-operatives to set up shop along the lines of private business houses, provided they opt against the Government doles. Th e flip side would be the freedom on fixture of price on both buying and selling produce, not to mention getting professionals to occupy strategic positions. The existing co-operatives can shift to the new regime as is happening in Guntur and Visakhapatna m where we are helping them to return the Government money and soon the Krishna district co-operative may follow suit'', said Ms Patel.

In a bid to give a new lease of life to farmers, NDDB has sought and been granted permission to set up an auction market for fruits and vegetables in Bangalore by the Karnataka Government. The State Government has already given the requisite land for NDD B to begin the project which is expected to come up over the next two years.

``The Bangalore fruit and vegetable mandi project has been pencilled in to cost Rs 125 crore and will become fully operational in the next 24 months. The facilities would include processing houses, cold chains wherever required and a backward integration right up to the packing houses. The fruits identified by NDDB for the auction market include mango and guava while tomato figures prominently among vegetables'', said Mr Deepak Tikku, Managing Director, NDDB.

Meanwhile, the board has set in motion a major grass-roots level effort to make the Indian milk get the stamp of approval as per the World Trading Organisation guidelines. This includes the benchmarking of quality semen to the extent of branding the prod uct which is expected to happen over the next one year where private entrepreneur help would be sought to ensure market penetration.

``We are talking about convincing the farmer to actually pay for something which he, till now, had been getting free. In Bihar it is already happening where `guaranteed' insemination is on offer for some Rs 100. Another important area is in making variou s vaccinations mandatory especially in the areas of foot and mouth disease and brucillosis which causes abortion in animals. Clearly, the enactment of `Infectious Diseases in Animals Act would come as a bonus'', Ms Patel added. NDDB is now in talks with the Karnataka Government to notify `disease-free zones' in Bangalore and Kolar. This would envisage the ear tagging of the cattle to control movement where an entire herd would need to be protected from various contagious diseases and mandatory tests car ried out at various bull stations where the infected animals would be instantly removed.

With Rs 1,000 crore earmarked as investment over the next five years, NDDB is sparing no effort in ushering in a new revolution at the grass-roots level, not unlike the one that later became known as the Operation Flood. Currently, 34 projects including 22 processing plants and 12 other projects are under various stages of execution at a cost of Rs 290 crore. The next year will see NDDB putting in place an Internet-based dairy information system, with TCS as consultant, linking most co-operatives in the country.

Just as the insemination drives competes with vaccination and cleanliness crusades in the villages of India with women taking an increasingly active role in the business of milk, NDDB has reason to believe the Indian dairy sector has a great future. As p er the recent data available the cost of milk per 100 kg was at $14.75 in India as compared to $15.5 in New Zealand and Australia while it was $33 in the US and the European Union countries.