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New chilling unit to augment milk supply

JAIPUR: Women in Duni village of Tonk district in Rajasthan have taken a unique initiative of establishing a bulk milk chilling unit of 5,000-litre capacity to augment their milk supply under the banner of Maitree Mahila Mandal. The group, selling milk in the rural areas, now plans to supply it to Mother Dairy in Delhi.

Maitree Mahila Mandal was established as a women’s group by the Self Reliant Initative for Joint Action (SRIJAN) working in more than 60 villages of Deoli block in Tonk district recently. It has encouraged dairy activities for women and introduced weekly savings and inter-lending, providing liquid cash to women on a regular basis.

Maitree, getting advantage of the World Bank-sponsored District Poverty Initiative Programme (DPIP), is today a federation of 165 groups comprising 1,980 women spread over 60 villages. Women from Below Poverty Line families, purchasing two buffaloes each on a cost-sharing basis with the State Government paying 80 per cent of the price, have collected more than Rs. 20 lakh in savings.

The Maitree women now have about 2,500 Murrah grade buffaloes for which they have got a subsidy of Rs.3 crore from DPIP. After forming local clusters of 10 to 15 livelihood groups each and gradually federating themselves into the Mahila Mandal, women have so far sold over Rs.40 lakh worth of milk.

World Bank country director Isabel Guerrero commissioned the new bulk milk chilling unit of 5,000-litre capacity, adding to an existing capacity of 2,000 litres, at Duni this past Sunday. Ms. Guerrero said the creation of Maitree was an inspiration for all women. The need for the new plant emerged as the Maitree women were facing the constraint of chilling capacity to preserve milk. They could only cool 2,000 litres of milk, which was uneconomical to transport and market.

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