Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union (TRCMPU) under Milma has come up with a first-ever employment guarantee scheme in the country for dairy farmers with an aim to promote dairy farming and increasing the participation of women dairy farmers. As per Dr V Kurian Memorial Milma Employment Guarantee Scheme, 2,000 dairy farmers under the union, including 1,000 women, will get Rs 10,000 per annum if they work for 100 days.
The employment guarantee scheme was launched by chief minister Oommen Chandy on Friday. He lauded the efforts of the union and said that it will promote dairy farming and self-sustenance in this sector.
The union has secured a fund of Rs 2 crore for the scheme.
As per the scheme, the union will shortlist 2,000 dairy farmers from poor background. They will be given Rs 100 per working day for 100 days in a year as bonus. This will be in addition to the price of milk they obtain from selling it to societies.
The union hopes that more farmers will be interested in dairy farming if such an incentive scheme is in place.
The union has also allocated Rs 32 lakh for the Milma Bhavanam project, in which two economically backward dairy farmers from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts each will be granted Rs 4 lakh to build houses.
The state now imports about 1.5 lakh to 1.75 lakh litres of milk from other states, which was 7 to 8 lakh litres four years ago.
Minister K C Joseph said that the scheme could be expanded proportionately to Milma’s revenue as the dairy farmers are yet to be included in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Joseph received the Nanniyodu Rajan memorial award comprising a cash award of Rs 25,000 and plaque from the chief minister.
Kozhivila Vijayan memorial award for best dairy society and Bhaskaran memorial award for best dairy farmer were also presented at the event.
Chairman of TRCMPU Kallada Ramesh, national dairy development board (NDDB) chairman T Nandakumar, MLA K Muraleedharan and chairman of Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF) P T Gopala Kurup were present.
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