Sanjeev Balyan inaugurates Harit Pradesh Milk Producer Company

Meerut

Inaugurating Harit Pradesh Milk Producer Company (HPMPC), an entity owned by over 17,000 milk producers of the Western Uttar Pradesh (UP), Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said on May 22 that the government would support farmers’ initiatives in creating their own organization.

He complimented the farmers in the seven districts of the region for truly demonstrating the meaning of empowerment and entrepreneurship. He described HPMPC as “a new cooperative in UP… this is not a company… in fact, it is a farmer organization… there is no place for politics or corruption in it... focus will be on such entities as they are of farmers and work in the interest of farmers.”

The government’s focus is on increasing the production and productivity from indigenous milch animals and for this purpose, artificial insemination will be provided to farmers free of cost across the country. The government will also provide 4,500 veterinary ambulances, of which a substantial number will be of Uttar Pradesh.

Complimenting the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for facilitating four other such entities in UP — Varanasi, Amethi, Rae Bareilly and Bundelkhand — for the upliftment of farmers of the state, Balyan said that the focus of the Union Government was on the development of farm sectors, where budgetary allocation had substantially gone up to Rs 1,32,000 crore from Rs 22,000 crore in 2014. The focus is on increasing the productivity of indigenous breeds of milch animals.    

Balyan praised milk farmers for procuring and pooling quality milk from hundreds of villages in seven districts, namely Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Hapur, Shamli and Bijnor. He said that since technology and a transparent digital mechanism were at the core of the new entity, it would ensure better returns for the farmers along with good quality milk for consumers.

HPMPC was incorporated on 26 October 2021 with the aim of procuring quality milk from its members/shareholders only. It is an initiative on the basis of the provisions contained in the Companies Act, 2013, enabling the business enterprise to run on the mutual assistance principles similar to the cooperative principles adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).

MPs Rajendra Agrawal, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, Bhola Singh, Kanta Kardam and Pradeep Kumar Chaudhary along with Surender Singh, Divisional Commissioner, Meerut, graced the occasion, showering rich praises on the milk farmers of the region for the commendable collectivism and entrepreneur initiative.

Harit Pradesh Milk Producer Company is the 19th such entity across nine states. These producer companies are collectively owned by about 7.5 lakh dairy farmers, procuring over 40 lakh litres of milk per day.

Speaking on the occasion, Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB, said that the NDDB family looked forward every day to making dairy farmers an important source of income and bringing a lasting smile to their faces.

Mother Dairy will provide the forward linkage to HPMPC in terms of processing and selling milk to consumers, making the facility available to the farmers throughout the year. This will play an important role in the development of the region.

NDDB Dairy Services (NDS) Managing Director, Dr Saugata Mitra, pointed out that the initiative of MPCs also focuses on the empowerment of rural women. He said, “Our goal is to bring about a social change in the rural landscape of India along with substantive contribution for economic upliftment by raising the income levels of each dairy family.”

Earlier, Kapil Bhardwaj, Chairperson of the new entity, welcomed the Ministers, MPs and other dignitaries, saying the collective effort would surely help the economic upliftment of thousands of milk farmers in the region.

Delivering the vote of thanks, Dr Hitesh Poonia, Chief Executive, HPMPC, thanked Dr Balyan for his guidance and support for the farmers’ initiative on the historic day and promised that the new entity would emerge as a major dairy player in the region and the state.