Self-Help Groups (SHG) in the district have launched nine mini dairies at different places in the district. The mini dairies or otherwise known as ‘Pala Pragathi Kendras’ are run by the Joint Liability Groups (JLG) which are carved out of the SHG groups in a village.
Women interested in the enterprise can emerge as a joint liability group for establishing the mini-dairy in the village. So far nine JLG women groups were instrumental in establishing mini dairies at Kasimkota, Narsipatnam, Bheemunipatnam, Nakkapalli, Munagapaka, Sabbavaram, and Golugonda villages. Pala Pragathi Kendras project officer Karunakar told The Hindu that 140 dairies would be established in the district in the 2012-13 financial year.
The dairies are expected to be grounded by January 2013. The 140 dairies are part of the the State government’s Milk Mission to establish 700 such dairies throughout the State. Presently the production of milk is 298.01 lakh litres per day. The mini dairies will help in increasing the same to 496.31 lakh litres per day.
The average milk consumption is 269 grams per person. The same is expected to increase to 426 grams of per capita availability to each person. Similarly the ‘milk mission’ will contribute to an increase in high yielding milch cattle to nearly 1.04 crore. On an average about 4 to 5 mini dairies are expected to come up in every village by 2015. Each dairy is being established in 2 acres and each member of the JLG is expected to earn Rs.2,500 to Rs.3000 as payment for maintenance of the animals.
The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and the Department of Animal Husbandry are giving special training to women of self help groups. The DRDA under the Indira Kranti Padham programme is presently the agency for executing the milk mission by coordinating the establishment of mini dairies2015. In the context of the need for extension of veterinary health services on a massive scale, the DRDA will be training about 546 SHG women who will act as a catalyst between the Pala Pragathi Kendras and the government.
The trained SGH women will actually be called ‘Community Managed Livestock Extension Worker' who will play the role of veterinary para-medical worker by providing first aid services to sick cattle apart from doing liaison work for the SHG groups which run the milk dairies. Their services will be relevant in villages which do not have a veterinary hospital or services of Gopala Mitra.
The Livestock Extension Worker will of course confine her services to the Pala Pragathi Kendras. Already 180 women out of 546 were given training and the remaining will be covered in the 2012-13.
