Council chairman to look into Comfed 'irregularities'

PATNA: Bihar legislative council Chairman Awadhesh Narain Singh announced in the house on Friday that he would personally look into the matter regarding the supply of milk to a Joya-based private dairy in Moradabad by the milk unions of Bihar State Milk Cooperative Federation Limited (Comfed) at lower price and other alleged irregularities in the federation.
Dissatisfied with the reply of animal and fisheries resources minister Baidyanath Sahni to the call attention notice of Devesh Chandra Thakur (Independent) and Baidyanath Prasad (BJP), Singh also asked the minister to come with a "clear and specific" reply on August 1 on the allegations of "prevalent corruption" in the Comfed and "supply of milk to a Joya-based private dairy at a lower price".
The members, led by Thakur, Prasad and Harendra Pratap (BJP), created a ruckus in the Upper House in the post-lunch session on Friday when the minister was reading out a written reply detailing Comfed's achievements and not giving specific reply on the allegations of corruption and supply of milk at lower price to a private dairy. Intervening in the matter, the Chairman announced that he would personally look into the matter.
Thakur and Prasad, through their call attention notice, had alleged financial irregularities in the supply of milk to a private dairy and sought a 'clear statement' from the state government on the issues of "probe into prevalent corruption in the Comfed as well as "exploitation of milk producers and milk buyers." They categorically pointed out that the Comfed's different milk unions buy milk from the farmers at the rate of an average Rs 25 to 27 per litre (on the basis of test of milk), and the common consumers (in Bihar) have to buy the same milk at the rate of Rs 35 to 42 per litre. The Comfed's milk unions supply average 1.5 lakh litre milk per day to the Joya-based company at the rate of Rs 27 per litre.
"On the one hand, the milk producing farmers get less prices for their milk, on the other the common consumers of Bihar have to pay more than the total of milk's purchasing and processing cost. Supply of milk to the Joya-based company, that too at lower price, is one of the examples of irregularities being committed by the Comfed," they alleged.