Mahanand Dairy's handover to NDDB stuck over payment of Rs 130 cr to workers: Minister

The decision to hand over the Mahanand Dairy, a venture of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Milk Federation Ltd, to the National Dairy Development Board was taken by its board last year, but the handover process is stuck over payment of Rs 130 crore to its workers, a state minister said.Mahanand Dairy, once a profitable state government undertaking, has been facing an existential crisis.The payment of Rs 130 crore is the root cause that is halting the handing over of the Mahanand Dairy to the NDDB, Maharashtra Dairy Development Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil told PTI when contacted on Wednesday.

The decision to hand over the Mahanand Dairy, a venture of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Milk Federation Ltd, to the National Dairy Development Board was taken by its board last year, but the handover process is stuck over payment of Rs 130 crore to its workers, a state minister said.

Mahanand Dairy, once a profitable state government undertaking, has been facing an existential crisis.

The payment of Rs 130 crore is the root cause that is halting the handing over of the Mahanand Dairy to the NDDB, Maharashtra Dairy Development Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil told PTI when contacted on Wednesday. ''The issue will be resolved once it is decided whether the state government or the NDDB would make the payment,'' he said.

''The board of Mahanand Dairy had last year passed the resolution to hand over its operations to the NDDB. There should not be any confusion about it. We are trying to find a solution to the payment issue,'' he said in response to a query about the decision to hand over the dairy to the NDDB. Around 1,200 workers are employed with the Mahanand Dairy, of whom some 530 opted for the voluntary retirement scheme, Vikhe Patil said.

''The dairy needs to make the payment to the tune of Rs 130 crore to the workers, but its current turnover and revenue generation is too low to raise such a huge amount,'' he said. ''We have asked the NDDB to make arrangements to share part of the Rs 130 crore amount. It is a bit complicated situation at present,'' he said.

The minister cited the example of the Jalgaon district cooperative dairy, saying, ''The Jalgaon dairy was with the NDDB for 10 years. Once the dairy became self-sufficient, it was given back to its previous management. We can do the same with Mahanand also.'' Mahanand's daily milk collection capacity is around six lakh litres, but the actual collection is nearly 60,000 litres daily. All the other dairies in the state are members of Mahanand, the minister said.

''There is a rule that five per cent of the total milk collection by each dairy should be shared with the Mahanand, but nobody follows it,'' the minister said.