Dairy Co-operatives Objectives and Functions

Objectives / Functions of Dairy Co-operatives
1. Arrange for collection center and distribution network.
2. Arrange for processing of milk into milk products.
3. Arrange for selling of milk through their own depot and through licensed vendors.
4. Distribute cattle feed to the milk producers and also provide veterinary services.
5. Provide technical services to member farmers, like artificial insemination, veterinary facilities and supply of quality seeds and root slips for production of green fodder.
6. Protect the hybrid quality of animals.
7. Organise dairy industry on a system of rural milk production and urban marketing.
8. Conduct Research and Development activities to improve the productivity rate.
9. Provide financial assistance to poor farmers to purchase cattle.
10. Encourage co-operation and self-respect among the members.
11. Prepare and undertake necessary projects for dairy development in the area.

Problems of Dairy Co-operatives

1. Supply of inputs through the network of dairy co-operatives is not satisfactory.
2. Irregular payments to milk producers have frustrated them.
3. Balance cattle feed and fodder seed is not available regularly, which compelled farmers to use traditional feed.
4. Frozen semen technology to ensure grater productivity is used popularly.
5. Reach and effectiveness of animal health cover is still unlimited.
6. Framers induction programme is given low priority.
7. Dairy co-operatives are facing cutthroat competition with milk vendors.
8. Lack of proper coordination with district level authorities.

Benefits of Dairy Co-operatives for Members

Excludable Benefits:

1. Reliable access to the market for the milk produced.
2. Field services, insurance and market information.
3. Knowledge about the industry costs, returns and practices in the industry.
4. Access to value added margin from dairy processing activities.
5. Representation into legislative process at low cost.
6. Negotiation of overdue premiums.

Non-Excludable Benefits:

1. Balancing milk supplies among dairies.
2. Transporting milk to locations where needed.
3. Providing milk to deficit areas seasonally.
4. Affecting policies and trade practices in favour of milk producers.
5. Providing leadership for effective legislative process.

ANAND PATTERN

Anand Pattern is a doctrine of rural development. Mulani has identified 14 key elements of Anand Pattern.

1. Single commodity approach
2. Member ownership and control of the co-operative
3. Democratic control and Decentralised decisions making
4. Three-tired structure i.e. Village Diary Cooperative, District Dairy Cooperative Unions and Dairy Federation.
5. Use of professional managers and technologies
6. Accountability of professionals to members.
7. Coordination of milk procurement, processing and marketing
8. Annual audit of village co-operatives and district unions.
9. Daily or weekly payment of milk as per the quality
10. Investment in village social expenses capital
11. Autonomy of unions in fixing of prices
12. Adoption of Anand Pattern byelaws.

FORMATION OF A CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

A Co-operative Society can be formed as per the provisions of the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912. At least ten persons having the capacity to enter into a contract with common economic objectives, like farming, weaving, consuming, etc. can form a Co-operative Society.

A joint application along with the bye-laws of the society containing the details about the society and its members, has to be submitted to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies of the concerned state. After scrutiny of the appliation and the bye–laws, the registrar issues a Certificate of Registration.

Requirements for Registration:

1.     Application with the signature of all members

2.     Bye-laws of the society containing:

(a)  Name, address and aims and objectives of the society;

(b) Names, addresses and occupations of members;

(c)  Mode of admitting new members;

(d) Share capital and its division.

Advantages

1.     Easy formation

2.     Open membership

3.     Democratic Control

4.     Limited Liability

5.     Elimination of Middleman’s Profit

6.     State Assistance

7.     Stable Life

Disadvantages

1.     Limited Capital

2.     Problems in Management

3.     Lack of Motivation

4.     Lack of Cooperation and Dependence on Government

MANAGING COMMITTEE

Members of Managing Committee are appointed as per byelaws of the society and comprises of Chairman, Vice Chairman, President, Vice President, MD, Secretary and Treasurer.

Powers of Managing Committee

1. Manage the business of the society.
2. Scrutinize the membership applications.
3. Check the books of accounts and register of the secretary and treasurer.
4. Sanction working expenses and any emergency expenses.
5. Appoint, suspend, and remove all officers except auditors.
6. Deposit the funds of society to any bank
7. Enter into any contract of the society
8. Borrow, raise or secure the payment of money
9. Refuse transfer of share if transferee is not qualified to be a member.
10. Settle or contest any suit or claim by or against the society in a court of law.

Duties of Managing Committee

1. To observe the provision of the act, rules and bye-laws
2. To get the account of society audited and placed before the General Body Meeting.
3. To hold elections of the committee before expiry of terms.
4. To maintain particulars of assets and liabilities of the society.
5. To maintain prescribed books of accounts

Functions of BOD

1. Elect chairman of society from amongst its members
2. Register new members and allot of shares to them
3. Authorize transfer of shares
4. Allow investment of funds
5. Lay down policies, guidelines, and procedures as per act, rules and byelaws

Duties of Secretary

1.To prepare and enforce office rules and procedures
2. To maintain record book of business transactions and annual budget of the society.

3. To execute the decisions of managing committee as regards borrowings & investment of surplus funds.To fix date of AGM and Managing Committee Meetings  in consultation of chairman.To issue notice, agenda etc. for meetings.

4. To maintain register of members, share ledger, capital register minutes book.

5. To file statements of accounts with the registrar.

6. To issue circulars, notifications and booklets to the members.

7. To receive loan applications from members and placed before managing committee.

8. To keep contact with the press and to inform about publicity of activities of  society.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

A co-operative society is a special type of business organisation different from other forms of organsation you have learnt earlier. Let us discuss its characteristics.

i. Open membership: The membership of a Co-operative Society is open to all those who have a common interest. A minimum of ten members are required to form a cooperative society. The Co–operative societies Act does not specify the maximum number of members for any co-operative society. However, after the formation of the society, the member may specify the maximum number of members.

ii. Voluntary Association: Members join the co-operative society voluntarily, that is, by choice. A member can join the society as and when he likes, continue for as long as he likes, and leave the society at will.

iii. State control: To protect the interest of members, co-operative societies are placed under state control through registration. While getting registered, a society has to submit details about the members and the business it is to undertake. It has to maintain books of accounts, which are to be audited by government auditors.

iv. Sources of Finance: In a co-operative society capital is contributed by all the members. However, it can easily raise loans and secure grants from government after its registration.

v. Democratic Management: Co-operative societies are managed on democratic lines. The society is managed by a group known as “Board of Directors”. The members of the board of directors are the elected representatives of the society. Each member has a single vote, irrespective of the number of shares held. For example, in a village credit society the small farmer having one share has equal voting right as that of a landlord having 20 shares.

iv. Service motive: Co-operatives are not formed to maximise profit like other forms of business organisation. The main purpose of a Co-operative Society is to provide service to its members. For example, in a Consumer Co-operative Store, goods are sold to its members at a reasonable price by retaining a small margin of profit. It also provides better quality goods to its members and the general public.

v. Separate Legal Entity: A Co-operative Society is registered under the Co-operative Societies Act. After registration a society becomes a separate legal entity, with limited liability of its members. Death, insolvency or lunacy of a member does not affect the existence of a society. It can enter into agreements with others and can purchase or sell properties in its own name. Co-operative Society

vi. Distribution of Surplus: Every co-operative society in addition to providing services to its members, also generates some profit while conducting business. Profits are not earned at the cost of its members. Profit generated is distributed to its members not the basis of the shares held by the members (like the company form of business), but on the basis of members’ participation in the business of the society.

vii. Self-help through mutual cooperation: Co-operative Societies thrive on the principle of mutual help. They are the organisations of financially weaker sections of society. Co-operative Societies convert the weakness of members into strength by adopting the principle of self-help through mutual co-operation. It is only by working jointly on the principle of “Each for all and all for each”, the members can fight exploitation and secure a place in society.

TYPES OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES

1. Consumers’ Co-operative Society: These societies are formed to protect the interest of general consumers by making consumer goods available at a reasonable price. They buy goods directly from the producers or manufacturers and thereby eliminate the middlemen in the process of distribution. Kendriya Bhandar, Apna Bazar and Sahkari Bhandar are examples of consumers’ co-operative society.

2. Producers’ Co-operative Society: These societies are formed to protect the interest of small producers by making available items of their need for production like raw materials, tools and equipments, machinery, etc. Handloom societies like APPCO, Bayanika, Haryana Handloom, etc., are examples of producers’ co-operative society.

3. Co-operative Marketing Society: These societies are formed by small producers and manufacturers who find it difficult to sell their products individually. The society collects the products from the individual members and takes the responsibility of selling those products in the market. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation that sells AMUL milk products is an example of marketing co-operative society.

4. Co-operative Credit Society: These societies are formed to provide financial support to the members. The society accepts deposits from members and grants them loans at reasonable rates of interest in times of need. Village Service Co-operative Society and Urban Cooperative Banks are examples of co-operative credit society.

5. Co-operative Farming Society: These societies are formed by small farmers to work jointly and thereby enjoy the benefits of large-scale farming. Lift-irrigation cooperative societies and pani-panchayats are some of the examples of co-operative farming society.

6. Housing Co-operative Society: These societies are formed to provide residential houses to members. They purchase land, develop it and construct houses or flats and allot the same to members. Some societies also provide loans at low rate of interest to members to construct their own houses. The Employees’ Housing Societies and Metropolitan Housing Co operative Society are examples of housing co-operative society.

ROLE OF BANKS IN INDIAN CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT

ROLE OF RBI  IN CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT

1. Prior to 1982 RBI provided finance and guidance for the development of co-operative movement through Agricultural Development Department. From 1982 this work was taken by NABARD.
2. RBI convened a conference of people connected in co-operative movement in 1951 and made some important recommendations.

RBI performed following functions:

1.         Improved the operational efficiency of co-operative financing agencies.

2.         Helped the state government in reorganizing primary agricultural credit societies.

3.         Build up a co-operative credit structure in qualitative and quantitative terms.

4.         Made policies to remove regional imbalance and extend more credits to small and economically backward farmers.

ROLE OF SBI  IN CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT

1. Provides finance to marketing and processing societies at 7% rate of interest.

2. Provide loans to consumer co-operative for working capital.

3. Grant advances against raw material and finished goods to industrial co ops.

4. Provide remittance facilities to co-operatives within certain limits.

5. Provide finance for debentures for Land Development Banks.

6. Provides overdraft facilities to Central Co-operative Banks at concessional rate.

7. Maintain close coordination between RBI’s Agricultural Development Department.

DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT

DEFINITION OF CO-OPERATION

Ho Calvert: “Cooperation is a form of organization in which persons voluntarily associate together as human beings on the basis of equality for the promotion of economic interest of themselves”.

DEFINITION OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

    Co-operative society is defined as “a union of persons established according to the principles of equality, the purpose is to improve the financial position of its members by joint performance, provided that all profits made, aims to distribute among members and not in proportionate to investment”.

DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT

1.     Beginning Period of Co-operative Movement in India (1904-1912): The Indian co-op movement started on 25th March 1904 with the passing of an Act. Provision was made for Primary Credit Co-op Society and more importance was given to agricultural finance. There were 8177 co-ops in 1912 with a membership of more than 4 lakhs. In 1911Mr. Samaldas and Mr. Gokhale started a Central Co-op Bank in Mumbai.

2. Period of Hurried Expansion (1912-1918): Shortcomings of 1904 Act were overcome by 1912 Act. Permission was granted to start co-op societies in other fields. Central Co-op Societies was developed. The number of co-ops reached 25192 in 1917 with a membership of more than 109 lakhs. A committee was appointed under the leadership of Sir Edward Mcgalan for taking overall review.

3. Unplanned Rapid Development (1919-1928): The matter of cooperation was entrusted to the provincial government. Depending upon the situation of the province various acts were passed by the respective provincial government to develop the co-operative movement in their provinces. During this period there was only quantitative growth of societies but no proper attention was given to qualitative growth. Therefore Ramdas Pantalu defined this co-ops movement as “Unplanned Development”.

4. Period of Consolidation and Reorganization (1929-1939): Because of the worldwide financial depression in 1929 the development of co-op movement stopped and about 50% of co-op societies went into liquidation. The Royal Agricultural Commission 1927 and Provincial Banking Inquiry Commission 1929 gave their recommendation and pointed out that the failure of co-ops was due to lack of education and proper guidance. During this period the existing societies had combined and registration of inactive societies were cancelled and hence the number of societies went down by 13%.

5.   Period of Recovery (1939-1947): Due to the world war the price of agricultural goods started increasing thereby increase in the income of farmer, which in turn increased deposits from 25 crores to 54 crores with Primary Credit Co-operative Societies. Consumer Co-operative Stores proposed and Industrial Co-operative Societies came into existence for supplying the war materials. Due to bifurcation in 1947 some of the co-ops had been shifted to Pakistan thereby reducing the number of societies.

6.     Sixth Stage (1947-1970): Co-operatives were included in the Five Year Plans.

7.  Seventh Stage (1970-2000): Co-operatives were asked to develop rural banks. NBARD formed as an apex bank for monitoring the co-operative banks. Initiatives were taken for replicating the Anand model for dairy co-operatives across the country.

8.     Eighth Stage (2000 onwards): The co-operatives have to face direct competition from MNCs and have to work within WTO restrictions. The government is providing adequate support to the co-ops by building brands, distribution networks and in exporting their products in global markets.

PRINCIPLES OF CO-OPERATION

DEFINITION OF CO-OPERATION

Ho Calvert: “Cooperation is a form of organization in which persons voluntarily associate together as human beings on the basis of equality for the promotion of economic interest of themselves”.

DEFINITION OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

Co-operative society is defined as “a union of persons established according to the principles of equality, the purpose is to improve the financial position of its members by joint performance, provided that all profits made, aims to distribute among members and not in proportionate to investment”

OBJECTIVES OF CO-OPERATION
1. The members should be prepared to work in a sprit of cooperation.
2. There should be equality in all respect.
3. There should be no exploitation.
4. There should not be any political influence.
5. There should not be any regimentation.
6. There should be no loss of initiative.
7. Capital should not be allowed to dominate.
8. Both producer and consumers should feel satisfied.

PRINCIPLES OF CO-OPERATION
Mr. Watkiw: “Co-operative principles are the ideas inherent in co-operation, which determine what is the mode of action”.

1.     Rochdale Principles
In 1997, ICA declared the following principles as Rochdale Principles:
1. Main Principles 2. Secondary Principles
- Open and voluntary membership - Equal rights to all irrespective of cast, religion etc.
- Limited interest on capital - Neutrality in political and religious matters
- Democratic management - Cash transaction
- Cooperation among cooperators - Limited responsibility
- Cooperative education - Publicity and propaganda
- Distribution of surplus - Thrift and Savings

2.     Reiffeisen Principles
In order to provide relief to agricultural workers in Germany, Reffeisen started agricultural societies in 1862. He proposed the following principles:
1. All should be accepted as a member
2. Members should be on voluntary services
3. Assistance should be given to members
4. Liability should be limited
5. Area of operation should be limited
6. Should follow the principle of self-help
7. Surpluses should be used for services

3.     ICA (International Co-operative Alliance) Principles

1. *Voluntary and Open Membership: The membership is based on the concept of people willing to accept responsibility of membership without general, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

2. Limited Interest on Capital: Capital is an instrument of production and like any other item it is entitled to receive a fair remuneration. In a cooperate economy, capital cannot dominate but has to serve in return for a fixed remuneration or a limited interest. This principle shows that the co-op movement seeks to neutralize the disparities caused by ownership of capital and seeks to eliminate the profit motives.

3. Democratic Management: Co-ops are democratic organizations; they are managed and controlled by their own members. In a co-op, members have equal voting rights, i.e. they follow the principle of “One Member One hand”.

4. Cooperation among Co-operatives: Co-ops strengthen their movement by working together through local, regional, national and international structures.

5. Cooperative Education: Co-ops provides various types of management training programmes to their members and employees so that they can contribute to the development of their co-ops.

6. Member’s Contribution: Members contributes equally to capital contribution and receive limited compensation depending upon their contribution. They allocate surpluses as development fund for their co-ops.

7. Autonomy and Independence: Being self-helped organization, co-ops are controlled by their members. In case they enter into agreement into other organization including the government, they maintain the co-operative autonomy.

8. Concern for Community: The co-ops work for the sustainable development of their communities.

DAIRY CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS IN INDIA

Maximum People Of thickly populated India live in villages. Majority of them are involved in agriculture. The cattle animal is correlated with agriculture in India as the old method of cultivation is still vogue here. Rearing of cattle animal is also an additional source of income of the villagers in our country. We get from our ancient history that the domistication of the cow and the buffalo dates back to nearly 4000 years. Scriptures of India refer to the wealth through the word ‘Godhan’. Maximum proportion of cows and buffaloes of the world are seen in India. But India produces only five percent of the total quantity of milk produced in the whole world. This amount is too inadequate to meet the country’s demand. The supply of milk in some parts of India is higher than the local demand. On the other hand, supply of milk in the rest of the country as well as in urban areas is much lower than the demand.

          In 1965, National Dairy Development Board (N.D.D.B) was set up with the object of meeting the increasing demand of milk specially in urban areas as well as developing the rural economy through the enhancement of the milk production of the country. In 1970 National Dairy Development Board took up Operation Flood Programme in order to organise Milk Producers’ Co-operative in several probable places of India taking the Kaira District (Anand) Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (AMUL) of Anand, Gujarat as a model with the above object in view. The Himalayan Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (HIMUL) was formed at the foot of the Himalayas in West Bengal in 1973 as a part of this programme like other states of the country.

According to Operation Flood Programme many Milk Producers’ Cooperative have been formed in this vast country. For the benefit of detailed analysis only two Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited - The Kaira District (ANAND) Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited and The Himalayan Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited, have been taken into account.

History of Dairy Co-operative in India

          The Co-operative movement started in India in the last decade of the 19th Century with two objects in view, i.e. to protect the farmers from the hands of the private money lenders and to improve their economic condition. Madras province was the birth-place of this movement. With the setting up of an Agricultural Co-operative Banks there the movement took root in our Land and slowly gained strength. However, the growth of Co-operative movement in India during British rule was very slow and haphazard one. In most of the cases, the provincial governments took the lead. The foreign ruler had only made some committees or framed a few rules and regulations. But they did not take any wide-ranging programme to spread the movement all over the country.

  

The golden era of Co-operative movement began after India had won freedom. Within two decades of independence the membership of primary societies had increased four times while the share capital and working capital increased 23 and 31 times respectively.  The history of Dairy Development Movement in India is a new one. During the pre-independence period this movement was limited to a few pockets of Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore and Gujarat.

White Revolution

In early 1999, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared India as the world's largest producer of milk. According to FAO's Global Food Outlook Report, milk production in India crossed 74 million tonnes (mts) by March 1999, while milk production in the US, the second largest producer, was 71 mts (See Exhibit I for the world's top five milk producing nations).

This was truly a moment of glory for India, which, less than four decades earlier, had been a milk-deficit country. According to analysts, India's transformation into a milk surplus country was largely due to the collective initiative undertaken by various government and semi-government bodies to promote milk production and animal husbandry. In 1970, 'Operation Flood (OF)' was launched by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), an institution constituted as a body corporate in 1965. Declared as an 'institution of national importance' by an Act of Parliament, in 1965, NDDB was established with the objective of replicating the 'Anand Model' of dairy development.

The most notable of this venture was Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited of Anand, Gujarat. But after independence the National Government took great initiative in setting up new Dairy Co-operatives in many parts of the country. The National Dairy Development Board was set up to make the ambitious project a success. By the late 1990s, NDDB's success with the co-operative movement in India attracted the attention of many other developing countries as well as international agencies related to dairy development.

The countries which were inspired by the 'Operation Flood' project and which planned to implement similar projects included Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines and Malaysia, besides a few African nations. Helping other emerging countries establish co-operatives in the dairy industry was one of the elements of the three-pronged strategic plan outlined by Amrita Patel (Patel), who took over as chairman of NDDB in 1999 (after Kurien's 33-year stint). In addition to aiming at capitalizing the success of co-operative-run diaries, the plan also involved transforming India into a major milk exporter and extending the co-operative model to other domestic agricultural products.

Progress of Operation Flood

The Operation Flood Programme was undertaken after the National Dairy Development Board had been formed in 1965. The programme aimed at bringing the shortage of milk supply in the four Metropolitan cities of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Delhi into agreement with the abundance of milk production in adjoining villages of the cities. Simply speaking, it tried to achieve a two-fold objective - increasing the production of milk and making equilibrium of supply and demand in the milk market. It was then decided that the Milk Co-operative formed on Anand pattern in all over the country should be reorganised, the excess milk would be procured at a fair price and be supplied to the cities. The Anand pattern had been accepted as the model because the Kaira District Milk Producers’ Co-operative Union Limited (AMUL) was then recognised as the only ideal Milk Union of the country. In the initial stages of the programme India received a huge amount of butter oil and milk powder as gift from the European Economic Community (EEC).

The progress of the Operation Flood Programme all over India has been quite commendable. Before the implementation of the programme both the production of milk as well as the per capita milk consumption was too low. The position at present, has undergone a distinctive change. Apart from the increase of milk production and its per capita consumption a great number of Village Milk Co-operative Societies have come up. The trend of keeping milk animals in a scientific method has registered an increase too. As a result, import of milk powder from foreign countries substantially dropped and after 1976, its import on a commercial basis stopped totally. However the country got little amounts of milk powder after that as gift. This testified to the fact that, with the inception of the Operation Flood Programme, the Dairy Development Movement in India and also the Dairy Industry has made remarkable progress.

Despite that, the rate of progress has not been the same in different zones. While the Eastern zone is lagging far behind the other zones in this respect, the Western Zone has gone far ahead of others.

Back Ground of ‘AMUL and HIMUL’

Both Amul and Himul have a historical heritage. The density of population, percentage of literacy, agricultural products, economic status, geographical area, milk production in both the areas where Amul and Himul are located have something common in them. Nevertheless, the dissimilarities between the two are more glaring.

The establishment of Amul has back-ground of long struggle and movements. But Himul was totally a Government enterprise. Amul Co-operative has the blessings of the National leaders of pre-independence days. The strong determination and indomitable courage of the local milk producers were its main support. The people of the area have realised through experience what a Co-operative actually stands for and how the people and above all, the nation may be benefited by it. This cannot be said of Himul. It was as if imposed on the people of Darjeeling District and Sadar Sub-division of Jalpaiguri District and of Islampur Sub-Division of West Dinapur District. People were main force behind Amul, whereas in case of Himul the government was the enterpreneur - Himul is the foster-child of the Government while Amul is of the masses.

Formation of NDDB

While Amul laid the foundation for a systematic approach to dairy development in India, through the early 1950s, the government also began its efforts to modernize the dairy industry. As a part of this, it made modernization of the industry a priority under the first Five-Year Plan of India in 1951. Under this, the government set itself the goal of providing hygienic milk to the growing urban population.

To achieve this goal, the government encouraged establishment of dairy co-operative societies and also organized 'milk schemes' in all major cities across the country. It also implemented the Intensive Cattle Development Project (ICDP), which focused on artificial insemination and veterinary services and the Small Farmer Development Agencies (SFDA) which offered cattle farmers (milk producers), financial aid to enhance milk production. In 1959, the government introduced the 'Delhi Milk Scheme' to cater to the milk requirements of the national capital, Delhi. Under this scheme, government milk plants collected milk at chilling centers through middlemen...

Dairy Cooperatives account for the major share of processed liquid milk marketed in the country. Milk is processed and marketed by 170 Milk Producers' Cooperative Unions, which federate into 15 State Cooperative Milk Marketing Federations.The Dairy Board's programmes and activities seek to strengthen the functioning of Dairy Cooperatives, as producer-owned and controlled organisations. NDDB supports the development of dairy cooperatives by providing them financial assistance and technical expertise, ensuring a better future for India's farmers. Over the years, brands created by cooperatives have become synonymous with quality and value. Brands like Amul (GCMMF), Vijaya (AP), Verka (Punjab), Saras (Rajasthan). Nandini (Karnataka), Milma (Kerala) and Gokul (Kolhapur) are among those that have earned customer confidence.

Some of the major Dairy Cooperative Federations include:

Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Ltd (APDDCF) Bihar State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd (COMPFED) Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Ltd. (HDDCF) Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd (HPSCMPF) Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd (KMF) Kerala State Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (KCMMF) Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Dairy Federation Ltd (MPCDF) Maharashtra Rajya Sahakari Maryadit Dugdh Mahasangh (Mahasangh) Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd (OMFED) Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation Ltd (UP) (PCDF) Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd (MILKFED) Rajasthan Cooperative Dairy Federation Ltd (RCDF) Tamilnadu Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd (TCMPF) West Bengal Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd. (WBCMPF)

Milk Production

• India's milk production increased from 21.2 million MT in 1968 to 88.1 million MT in 2003-04.

• Per capita availability of milk presently is 231 grams per day, up from 112 grams per day in 1968-69.

• India's 3.8 percent annual growth of milk production surpasses the 2 per cent growth in population; the net increase in availability is around 2 per cent per year.

Marketing

• In 2003-04, average daily cooperative milk marketing stood at 148.75 lakh litres; annual growth has averaged about 4.2 per cent compounded over the last five years.

• Dairy Cooperatives now market milk in about 200 cities including metros and some 550 smaller towns..

• During the last decade, the daily milk supply per 1,000 urban consumers has increased from 17.5 to 52.0 litres.

Innovation

• Bulk vending - saving money.

• Milk travels as far as 2,200 kilometers to deficit areas, carried by innovative rail and road milk tankers.

• Ninety-five percent of dairy equipment is produced in India, saving valuable foreign exchange.

Macro Impact

• The annual value of India's milk production amounts to about Rs. 880 billion.

• Dairy cooperatives generate employment opportunities for some 12 million farm families.

Future of Dairy Co-Operative Movement in India

However, Operation Flood failed to replicate the success of Amul in states other than Gujarat. Analysts cited reasons, such as political interference, bureaucratic apathy, lack of a professional approach, and a lack of knowledge among the co-operative board and committee members of how to run co-operatives, for this failure. Commenting on this, Kurien said, "Unless it is truly run as a cooperative, it cannot be a success. If it is not run for economic reasons and the chairman and the board is not elected from among those who produce the milk, it will never succeed..."

The Stalemate Continues

Even by mid-2003, there were no signs of a truce between GCMMF and NDDB. Kurien still vehemently opposed NDDB's strategy while Patel supported it with equal intensity. She said that the proposal was aimed at benefiting co-operatives, by providing a professional marketing network to help them survive competition. "Their marketing is in a huge mess. All we are doing is partnering them to see that they do well," she said. By this time, NDDB had already entered into JVs with the state milk federations of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, which marketed the Vijaya and Milma brands respectively.