TDP leader D. Narendra Kumar has alleged that the YSRCP government is bent on “killing the cooperative dairy sector” in the State by promoting Amul with public money.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy should have turned the brand ambassador for the government-owned Vijaya Dairy, but he chose to promote and become the ambassador for Amul, a Gujarat-based dairy, Mr. Narendra Kumar alleged.
The government, if it were sincere, should revive and strengthen the State dairies. Instead, the government was all set to spend ₹3,000 crore on creating infrastructure to Amul by availing of a loan.
The cooperative dairies in the State would get a lease of life and extend more benefits to the dairy farmers had the same facilities been provided to them, he said.
The TDP leader, who is also chairman of Sangam dairy, was addressing the media along with other directors, here on Sunday.
The former MLA sought to know why the government was spending ₹3,000 crore on infrastructure if Amul was ready to do business in the State.
‘Tacit understanding’
Amul has presence in States such as West Bengal, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. But none of these governments showered such benefits on Amul. The government should disclose the “secret understanding and agreements” entered into with Amul, he demanded.
Accusing Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy of uttering blatant lies in the Assembly regarding the dairy sector.
The Chief Minister told the House that N. Chandrababu Naidu, when he was Chief Minister, had brought in the Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Act just to safeguard the interests of his own dairy, Heritage.
He said MACS was brought in during the tenure of former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao. The dairies in the combined State had fought against former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s attempts to exclude the dairy sector from the MACS purview.
The High Court and the Supreme Court had struck down the Ordinance then. Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was following in the footsteps of his father and was bent on killing the cooperative dairy sector.
The cooperative dairies would fight with the same spirit that they had displayed when Dr. Reddy tried to “stifle them,” he added.
