Ludhiana, Oct 19 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said that due to strenuous efforts of the state government, Milkfed, the state's leading cooperative, will augment milk supply to Delhi from currently 30,000 litres to 2 lakh litres, thereby immensely benefitting milk producers of the state.
"This is a revolutionary step aimed at supplementing the income of the farmers to bail them out from the agrarian crisis," he said after inaugurating Verka's newly-built milk processing and butter plant here.
The Chief Minister said that the state government has inked an agreement with the Delhi government in this regard.
He said as per this agreement, Verka will open new outlets at every nook and corner of Delhi to supply milk and milk products in the capital. Mann asserted that the sole aim of his government is to extend maximum support and best prices to the dairy farmers of Punjab by following the true essence of cooperation.
He also called for implementation of farmer-friendly schemes so as to boost the dairying business amongst the youth and make them financially independent and self-reliant.
Mann also said that he has asked Milkfed to further launch an aggressive marketing campaign to capture a sizable chunk of consumer market not only in the state but across the country and even abroad. He said this leading state cooperative has a perceptible presence in the domestic market as Verka is a household name in the region.
The Chief Minister said that Verka products like ghee, milk, butter, lassi, kheer, curd, ice-cream, sweets and others have already created a niche for themselves in the nationwide market which could further be widened with concerted efforts.
Striking an emotional chord with city of Ludhiana, he described it as his 'karam bhoomi' whereas Satauj village was his 'janambhoomi', adding the state-of-the-art project, constructed at a cost of Rs 105 crore, is a Diwali bonanza for the farmers.
Mann said its milk processing capacity is 9 lakh litres daily and 10 metric tonne butter handling capacity.
The Chief Minister asserted Punjabis are blessed with the qualities of entrepreneurship and leadership, and due to these qualities, have carved a niche for themselves across the globe. Mann said his government strives to make youth of Punjab to job providers instead of job seekers.
The revised transportation policy mandates, for the first time ever, the installation of vehicle tracking systems in every vehicle used for transportation of food grains procured by the government.
Besides Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, the others who have been named in the charge sheet include Manmohan Mohana, Deepak Tinu, Sandeep Kekda, Ankit Sirsa, Priyavrat Fauji, Sachin Bhiwani, Keshav, Kashish, Manpreet Manu, and Jagroop Roopa.
Her 16-year-old daughter, Yashodhara, lit the funeral pyre amid the presence of a large number of people and leaders who turned up to pay their last respects. The family demanded a probe into her death at a resort in Goa by the CBI.
According to reports, Ankit had gone to meet the girl, late on Tuesday night. The girl's family members came to know and locked up Ankit in a room. "The family called other relatives and they all poured petrol on the boy and set him on fire. As he began screaming, they drove him out of their house and started shouting that the victim had attacked their house with a petrol bomb," said a source.
On January 12, the Supreme Court had appointed retired top court judge Justice Indu Malhotra to head the committee to investigate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab.
Justice Ranjit Singh (retd), who headed the commission appointed by the previous Congress government into the alleged incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the subsequent police firing on protesters, has placed the then Chief Minister, the SAD patriarch, and then DGP Saini in dock.
