Swapan Debnath seeks more teeth to contain milk adulteration

Kolkata: Animal Resources Development (ARD) minister Swapan Debnath in the Assembly on Wednesday said that steps have been taken to check the incidents of milk adulteration in the state.

During a question-answer session in the House, Debnath said food safety officers in the district are supposed to conduct surveillance to check the incidents of food adulteration which are often reported in some districts.

The minister also said that there is a need to increase the number of district food safety officers so that the whole process can be expedited.

Some of the Opposition MLAs during the discussion in the House, drew the attention of the government to the growing number of food adulteration cases in the districts.

In response to a question raised in the Assembly, the minister said his department has taken up a number of initiatives to check such incidents.

He also said many initiatives have been taken up to boost up the cattle farming in the state.

As many as 5 cattle feed plants have come in different parts to meet the growing demands of food for the cattle. Each feed plant has a capacity of producing 200 metric tons of food. Four more plants are coming up in different locations.

State government has already allotted a fund of Rs 60.64 crore for the project. There is a demand of 26.28 lakh metric tons of cattle foods in the state in a year. State government will soon recruit 235 more veterinary doctors through the Public Service Commission. The veterinary doctors will be posted in those blocks where there is a scarcity.

Around Rs 18,000 is being provided to owner by the government in case of a cattle death caused by natural disaster. The ARD extends all sorts of assistance to the owners in assistance with the disaster management department if the cattle die in any natural calamity.