PANAJI
In a statement that could send shivers down the spine of Goans, Minister for Cooperation Subhash Shirodkar on Saturday said that the milk which comes to Goa from other States is not worth consuming.
Raising doubts over the quality of milk from other States, Shirodkar said, “the milk is not pure and not worth consuming”.
The minister went a step ahead and said Goans were being fleeced as there was also a gross abuse in the price of milk packets that were available in the market.
Stating that the government will crack down on such illegalities, he said, “I am considering an investigation into the matter. We will have to bring in some restrictions to tackle the rate abuse and keep a tab on the quality of milk which comes from outside the State in the long run”.
“We have to put some things in order and I will do it", Shirodkar said.
He also said that the ‘infighting’ Goa Dairy needs to be sorted out first and in the long run put restrictions on the rates of milk which is coming from other States.
The statement of the cooperative minister, however, created ripples in the State. A former chairperson of Goa Dairy said that it is impossible for Goa to produce milk which is required by the State every day.
"The minister must be having some plans to increase the milk production in the State. I can only say we don’t have that much raw milk production in the State", he said.
It may be noted that the State in the peak tourist season requires around 3.5 lakh litres of milk per day while the State produces just 50,000 to 65,000 litres of milk per day.
The government has a herculean task for a turnaround in the Goa Dairy which has suffered a net loss of Rs 6.41 crore during the financial year 2019-20.
However, after facing a loss for years Goa Dairy announced a profit of Rs 3.75 crores in the year 2020-21.
Surat based SUMUL Dairy is also planning to set up a State-of-the-art dairy plant with a 2 lakh litres per Day LLPD capacity in Goa. Officials of the dairy recently met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant regarding the same.
