IEP Ludhiana, October 19
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said that due to strenuous efforts of the state government, Milkfed- the leading Cooperative of the state will spread its milk by augmenting the milk supply to Delhi from currently 30,000 litres to 2 lakh litres thereby immensely benefitting the farmers/ milk producers of the state.“This is a revolutionary step aimed at supplementing the income of the farmers to bail them out from the agrarian crisis”, said the Chief Minister after inaugurating the newly built Milk Processing and Butter Plant Verka here today. The Chief Minister unequivocally said that the state government has inked an agreement with the Delhi government in this regard. He said that as per this agreement Verka will open new outlets at every nook and corner of Delhi to supply milk and milk products in the capital. Bhagwant Mann unequivocally said that the sole aim of his government is to extend maximum support and best prices to the dairy farmers of Punjab by following the true essence of cooperation. The Chief Minister also asserted that farmer friendly schemes should be implemented so as to boost the dairying business amongst the youth so as to make them financially independent and self-reliant. Bhagwant Mann also said that he has asked Milkfed to further launch an aggressive marketing campaign to capture a sizable chunk of consumer market not only in the state but across the country and even abroad. He said that this leading state cooperative has a perceptible presence in the domestic market as Verka is a household name in the region. The Chief Minister said that VERKA products like Ghee, Milk, Butter, Lassi, Kheer, Curd, Ice-Cream, Sweets and others have already created a niche for themselves in the nationwide market which could further be widened with concerted efforts. Striking an emotional chord with city of Ludhiana, the Chief Minister described it as his Karam bhoomi whereas Satauj village was his janambhoomi adding that the state of the art project is Diwali bonanza for the farmers as it has been constructed at a cost of Rs 105 crore. Bhagwant Mann said that its milk processing capacity is 9 lakh litres daily and 10 Metric Tonne Butter handling capacity. The Chief Minister asserted that Punjabis are blessed with the qualities of entrepreneurship and leadership. He said that due to these qualities the Punjabis have carved a niche for themselves across the globe. Bhagwant Mann said that his government strives to make youth of Punjab to job providers instead of job seekers. The Chief Minister asserted that ever since assuming the charge of office his government has been making strenuous efforts to provide corruption free administration in the state. He said that even if the corrupt leaders had joined some affluent political party also, his government has ensured that they are put behind the bars. Citing the example of recently nabbed former Minister Sunder Shyam Arora, Bhagwant Mann said that whosoever has plundered the wealth of the state will have to pay for their sins. Listing several pro-people initiatives of the state government in Punjab, the Chief Minister said that the state government has passed the historic ‘One MLA, One Pension’ bill which stipulates that each MLA will get only a single pension, instead of the earlier provision of permitting multiple pensions for every term. He said that similarly the state government has given more than 20,000 government jobs to the youth purely on merit basis. Bhagwant Maan said that the process to regularise 36,000 contractual employees in the state has also started and recently only the state government has issued notification for regularizing services of around 9000 employees. The Chief Minister exhorted the farmers to refrain from burning paddy straw as it poses a serious threat to human life by environmental pollution. He said that in a step aimed at wiping out the menace of paddy straw burning from the state, India’s largest Bio Energy plant has been constructed in Sangrur at a cost of Rs 230 crore over 20 acres of land. Bhagwant Mann said this is largest biofuel (Biomethane/ Bio-CNG) production units in India with 33 TPD (tons per day) adding that the annual straw consumption in this unit will be1.30 lakh ton adding that it will help in solving the vex problem of paddy straw burning. The Chief Minister said that the state government has sent a detailed list of the cattle wealth that has fallen prey to Lumpy skin to the Government of India. He said that the state government will flag the issue of compensating the farmers who have lost their cattle wealth due to this disease with the union government. Bhagwant Mann said that strenuous efforts are already being made to ensure that centre governments declare this disease as pandemic.
