Dairy farmers seek probe into subsidy scheme to buy milch cows

Members of the Primary Milk Societies have submitted a memorandum to the Lieutenant Governor, K. Kailashnathan, seeking a probe into the implementation of subsidy scheme for buying milch cows in Puducherry.

In their memorandum to the Lt. Governor, the members have alleged misappropriation of funds meant for providing a subsidy of ₹25,000 per dairy farmer for buying milch cows by creating fake beneficiaries in Puducherry and Karaikal regions. After the AINRC-BJP government assumed office in 2021, the government launched a scheme to provide ₹25,000 per dairy farmer as subsidy upon purchase of milch cows from other States. According to the memorandum, the government had claimed that the subsidy towards purchasing around 5,500 milch cows had been released in the last three and a half years.

The memorandum was submitted to the Lt. Governor two days ago by a delegation of dairy farmers led by former Minister R. Kamalakannan.

The members have accused the Puducherry government of indulging in a major scam while implementing the subsidy scheme for buying milch cows. “Instead of the cows being purchased from outside the Union Territory, the existing animals had been double tagged for availing the subsidy. The tags were brought from Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry Department and fixed to the milch cows already present in the Union Territory. It is a pity that the same milch cows were ear-tagged and shown as purchased anew. Multiple tagging on the ears of the cows have resulted in wounds to these animals,” the memorandum alleged.

Fake vouchers had been obtained to show purchase of cows from Tamil Nadu. The vouchers could be verified with the name, address and signature of sellers. Application forms were given only to those beneficiaries who had agreed to pay ₹10,000 to middlemen. The true picture of the scheme would emerge only if a proper inquiry on the vouchers, travel details of veterinarians who certified the cows and ground assessment were carried out. The Lt. Governor should order a probe to ascertain the truth and initiate action against the culprits, the farmer said.

The intention of implementing the scheme, the memorandum said, was to increase milk production in the Union Territory but on the contrary, the domestic milk production has come down drastically in the last three-and-a-half years.

Features of the scheme

As per the guidelines of the scheme, a farmer who planned to avail himself of the subsidy amount has to purchase a cow from neighbouring States. A veterinarian has to accompany the farmer to the location from where the animal was being purchased and perform the ear-tagging procedure to the cow. It is mandatory for the veterinarian to accompany the farmer as he needs to certify the health condition of the milch animal besides carrying out the ear-tagging procedure, a farmer preferring anonymity told The Hindu.

The farmer also said blatant violations were evident from the facts gathered through villagers. “First of all, it is not clear whether 5,500 healthy milch cows are readily available for sale in Tamil Nadu or for that matter anywhere in the neighbouring States. If the animals had been bought as claimed, the milch cow population of the Union Territory would have increased. As a result, milk production also should have gone up in the last three years. On the other hand, milk production has come down from 70,000 litres per day to 40,000 litres per day in the region. We just need to verify the milk procured daily by Ponlait from primary societies, to understand the prevailing milk shortage,” the farmer said.