Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his firm belief in the role of the dairy sector, animal husbandry and the new push in white revolution in transforming the lives of farmers. Laying the foundation stone of ‘Banas Dairy Sankul’ at the UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Karkhiyaon, Varanasi, he said, animal husbandry can become a huge source of additional income for the small farmers of the country, whose number is more than 100 million.
Secondly, he said, India’s dairy products have a huge market abroad, in which there is a lot of potential to grow. Thirdly added, animal husbandry is a great way for the economic upliftment of women, to further their entrepreneurship. The fourth is that livestock is also a big basis for biogas, organic farming and natural farming.
The Bureau of Indian Standards has issued a unified system for the country. An integrated logo featuring Kamdhenu cows has also been launched for certification. If this proof, this logo is visible, then the identification of purity will be easy and the credibility of India’s milk products will also increase, he added.
He said “talking about cows can be a crime for some people, cows are revered as mothers by us. People who make fun of cow-buffalo forget that the livelihood of 8 crore families of the country is run by such livestock.” He added “strengthening India’s dairy sector is one of the top priorities of our government. In this series, the foundation stone of Banas Kashi Sankul has been laid here today.”
He also talked about the nationwide immunisation programme for foot and mouth disease among cattles. The milk production in the country has increased by about 45 percent as compared to 6-7 years ago. Today India produces about 22 percent of the world’s milk. “I am happy that today UP is not only the largest milk producing state in the country, it is also significantly ahead in the expansion of the dairy sector”, the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister said with the passage of time, the scope of natural farming was reduced and chemical farming became dominant. “For the rejuvenation of mother earth, to protect our soil, to secure the future of the coming generations, we must once again turn to natural farming. This is the need of the hour today”, he said. The Prime Minister appealed to the farmers to adopt natural farming and organic crops. He said that this will go a long way in making our agriculture AtmaNirbhar.
Prime Minister virtually distributed the rural residential rights record ‘Gharauni’ under the Swamitva scheme of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, to over 20 Lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh. He said this will open new vistas of development and dignity for rural poor and will make them part of the development growth story.
He said Varanasi is fast turning into a model of development. New projects are bringing unprecedented ease and convenience for the people of Varanasi. He said. Projects inaugurated and started today will further strengthen the health, education and infrastructure related image.
Spread across 30 acres of land, the Dairy will be built at a cost of about Rs 475 crores and will have a facility for processing 5 lakh litre of milk per day. The Prime Minister also digitally transferred about Rs 35 crore bonus to the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with Banas Dairy.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for the Biogas based Electricity generation plant for the Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant, Ramnagar, Varanasi. The Prime Minister launched a Portal and Logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).