Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Procurement of milk declines at Madurai facility of Aavin

MADURAI: The milk procurement level of Madurai Aavin has been declining of late. From a level of over 2.7 lakh litres of daily procurement in June 2007, it has come down to just over two lakh litres at present, according to officials.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, officials told The Hindu on Wednesday that this decline was reflective of a State-wide trend. The procurement levels of Tamil Nadu had come down to 19 lakh litres of milk per day as on Tuesday (January 21) from 25 lakh litres per day in September 2007. Madurai Aavin, or Madurai District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, is one of the 17 in the State and comes under Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation.

A major reason cited by officials for this decline is that crucial posts in the Procurement Department are lying vacant for after retirement of officers from 2003.

The post of Deputy General Manager (Procurement) in nine major unions in the State is lying vacant. In Madurai, the post remains without an occupant for over two years.

This had put additional pressure on other departments as they were forced to take additional responsibilities, officials said.

Personnel in the Procurement Department played a vital role in meeting competition as they went to the villages and canvassed milk producers to supply their stocks to Aavin, which meant that they had to visit villages at odd hours such as 4 a.m., officials said.

Now, with other department staff doubling up for procurement activities, they had to continuously work for long hours, officials said.

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