Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to direct Gujarat-based dairy giant Amul to desist from milk procurement in the southern state with immediate effect.
Writing to Shah, Stalin drew the Centre’s attention to the issues arising out of milk procurement by the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (Amul) in the Tamil Nadu milk shed area.
Recently, it has come to the state government’s notice that Amul has utilised its multi-state cooperative license to install chilling centres and a processing plant in Krishnagiri district, Stalin said.
Also, Amul has planned to procure milk through FPOs and SHGs in and around Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts in Tamil Nadu.
“It has been a norm in India to let cooperatives thrive without infringing on each other’s milk-shed area. Such cross-procurement goes against the spirit of Operation White Flood’ and will exacerbate problems for the consumers given the prevailing milk shortage scenario in the country. This act of AMUL infringes on Aavin’s (TN Co-operative Milk Producers Federation) milk shed area which has been nurtured in true cooperative spirit over decades.”
This move by AMUL will create unhealthy competition between cooperatives engaged in procuring and marketing milk and milk products.