DNA : BMC to get milk from 1500 km away : Aug 30, 2007

bmc to get milk from 1500 km away
civic body awards three-year contract worth rs297-crore to a politically
backed agency with no previous experience
sandeep ashar

the standing committee of brihanmumbai municipal corporation on wednesday
approved the rashtriya mazdoor madhyavarti grahak sanghthana (rmmgs) - an
agency with no experience in supplying milk - for a three-year term to
supply milk for rs297 crore.

the agency, whose president is nationalist congress party leader sachin
ahir, is a sister concern of the rashtriya mill mazdoor sanghathana. the
milk will be imported by rmmgs from haryana-based gk dairy and milk
manufacturers in tetra packs. this will be the first time that flavoured
milk in tetra packs is being made available to municipal school students.
the administration believes that tetra packed milk, having a higher shelf
life than polythene packed ones, will be hygienic and "safer" for students.
considering that the administration has gone in for an inexperienced agency
and will import milk manufactured more than 1,500 km away, civic circles
were expecting the proposal to be debated at length on the floor of the
standing committee, where it was tabled on wednesday.

interestingly, it was ncp corporator mangesh bansode who objected to the
proposal, seconded his bjp counterpart yogesh sagar . "has this agency
supplied milk to any other city or area?" asked sagar. however, his query
went unanswered with other elected representatives playing it down.
while additional municipal commissioner kishore gajbhiye held forth on the
hygiene and nutrition factors of flavoured milk, he sidetracked sagar's
query.

unaware that rmmgs was headed by ahir, bansode raised issues on the quantity
and the schedule of milk supply.

the milk will cost the bmc rs57.50 per litre. defending the administration,
gajbhiye said, "the decision to supply milk in tetra packs was taken by the
bmc in consultation with leaders of political parties. we approached milk
manufacturers in the state, but none was ready to supply milk in tetra packs
as per conditions laid down by the bmc." despite several attempts, ahir
remained unavailable for comment.


Publication : DNA; Section : mumbai; Pg : 7; Date : 30/8/07
URL :
http://digital.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?edorsup=Main&queryed=9&querypage=7&boxid=30784094&parentid=47119&eddate=08/30/2007