Dairy dept blamed for NDDB exit

RANCHI: Dairy farmers in the state seem dissatisfied with the work of the dairy department. Farmers claim that owing to lack of cooperation in the department, even the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) does not want to return to the state and help the department to increase milk production.
The contract with NDDB was signed by the dairy development board, Jharkhand in 2007 but until August 2009 it could not start functioning because of delay in departmental procedures.As the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for five years, which got over in August 2012 and has not been extended yet, it has left the dairy farmers in a fix.
Co-secretary of Jharkhand Milk Producer's Farmers Association, Jaiprakash Jaiswal, said on Tuesday, "We have been demanding that the dairy department resign the MoU with NDDB but until this day all we received were fake promises. When we went to the dairy board's deputy director regarding this issue, we were insulted. Also, our signatures were taken on a plain paper and we were told that our demands will be taken to the ministry."
Jaiswal added, "When we realized that the department is not serious about the issue, we wrote to the Union minister Jairam Ramesh and after his interference the department called us for a discussion."
According to Jaiswal, they were given assurance about dairy department calling NDDB but on the next day, when one of the farmers went to the dairy department he was told by an official that there is not even 10% chance that NDDB will come back to the state. He said, "We were disappointed and so on December 7 we filed an RTI asking the department about the steps taken to call back NDDB."
Aditya Swaroop, secretary of animal husbandry and fisheries department, said, "I along with some officials went to NDDB headquarters at Anand district in Gujarat. We met the NDDB chairman Amitabh Patel and invited him to sign an MoU with us again. Hopefully by January 2014 everything will be fixed, and even if NDDB does not agree to come to Jharkhand we will think of an alternative."