Pb milkmen hit by SGPC's move to get dairy products from Pune firm instead of Milkfed: Minister

The SGPC’S decision to procure ‘desi ghee' and skimmed milk for making 'karah prasad' at gurudwaras from a Pune-based firm instead of Punjab’s well-known Milkfed group has hit about 3.50 lakh milk producers in the state, said Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday.

The SGPC’S decision to procure ‘desi ghee' and skimmed milk for making 'karah prasad' at gurudwaras from a Pune-based firm instead of Punjab’s well-known Milkfed group has hit about 3.50 lakh milk producers in the state, said Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday. Randhawa’s made the remark in a letter to the apex gurdwara body in the wake of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee allotting a tender worth Rs 60 crore for the supply of milk products for making 'karah prasad' and 'langars' in gurdwaras to a Pune-based firm.

He has requested the SGPC to consider reviewing its decision. The SGPC has been purchasing various milk products from Punjab Milkfed, (Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited) earlier. In his letter to SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal, Randhawa said the SGPC’s decision has hit 3.50 lakh milk producers of Punjab very hard and has affected their livelihood. “Out of these milk producers, 99 percent are Sikhs whereas the SGPC being the sole representative body of Sikhs, the decision does not behove the mini parliament of Sikhs,” said Randhawa in a statement here.

The minister said he has appealed to the SGPC chief to reconsider the decision. The minister has reminded the SGPC president to consider the fact that Milkfed is an institution of the Punjab government and it has never hankered after profiteering.

It also ensured quality products such as milk, ghee, 'paneer' and milk products to its consumers, besides giving reasonable prices to milk producers. “Milkfed is a well-known brand not only in Punjab but in the entire country for decades. It has been supplying skimmed milk, desi ghee and paneer to both the SGPC and DSGMC for a very long time while the Pune dairy is a completely unknown entity,” said the minister. The Pune company carries only one agenda and that is of “minting profit” because at the rate at which it has inked the agreement for supplying 'desi ghee', no institution can provide good quality items, he said.

He also expressed apprehension that the quality of items would be compromised. “The Milkfed has never compromised with the standards. If Milkfed reduces the purchase rate of milk, the private milk plants and the milk vendors will also do the same, ruining the livelihood of the milk producers of Punjab,” he said. Randhawa sought to remind Longowal that the milk producers of Punjab are the same farmers who every year contribute lakhs of tonnes of rice, wheat and pulses to the Golden Temple and other gurdwaras.