NDDB to support Punjab's dairy farmers in enhancing income
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Apr, 2022 10:29 AM
New Delhi/Anand, April 21 (IANS) The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on Thursday assured support to Punjab government's endeavour in setting up 12 more milk plants in the state at an estimated outlay of about Rs 900 crore in order to bail out dairy farmers.
There already are 11 milk plants in Punjab, covering 6,000 villages, and the new ones would taking the total numbersto 23 and would cover a total of 12,000 villages. This would help in procuring additional 10 lakh litres of milk per day.
"This endeavour will not just supplement the farmers' income but also lead to another White Revolution in Punjab," said NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah after meeting Punjab's Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development & Fisheries, Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal Minister at Anand.
The Punjab government would establish Total Mixed Ration (TMR) plant at Amritsar on the lines of two existing plants successfully operational in Ganganagar and Kolhapur, at an estimated outlay of Rs 80 crore, so as to overcome the problem of pollution and to provide cheaper feed to the dairy farmers, officials said.
"NDDB would provide all necessary assistance. This would also help solve the problem of burning crop residues."
Shah said that NDDB will work with the state government and arrange the required financial and technical assistance.
After the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, enforcement teams have seized valuables worth Rs 23.8 crore in violation of code, besides confiscating unaccounted cash till January 12, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab S. Karuna Raju said on Thursday.
Channi expressed regret while participating in a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi with Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of states and UTs to review the prevailing Covid situation as well as the ongoing vaccination drive.
Unveiling the first set of plans in his Punjab Model with focus on resurrection of Punjab, Sidhu, in the absence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Cabinet colleagues, told the media here: "Punjab Model is people's model, an effort to give a roadmap to return power to people."
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
India on Tuesday recorded 1,68,063 new Covid cases, taking the total tally to 8,21,446. Although the fresh infections were 6.4 per cent less than Monday when the country logged 1,79,723, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 8.85 per cent and the daily positivity rate has declined to 10.64 per cent. On the other hand, 4,461 Omicron cases were recorded from 28 states.
Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896. Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 Covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.
