PM Modi interacts with women dairy farmers, advises them to vaccinate livestock regularly

PTI, Apr 19, 2022, 5:58 PM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with women dairy farmers at the Banas dairy complex at Diyodar in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, and advised them to get their livestock vaccinated. Modi was at Diyodar to inaugurate a new dairy complex and potato processing plant besides a host of other projects of Banas Dairy, a cooperative. A small group of local women met Modi during the event, and shared with him their experiences of being part of the dairy industry and the support provided by Banas Dairy and the government.

”Our government got everybody vaccinated against COVID-19 free of cost. We do the same for the cattle. The cattle should be regularly vaccinated to protect them from diseases,” the prime minister told the women.

The women mentioned that an ambulance reaches their doorstep within 30 minutes whenever an animal is sick, thanks to the service provided by the dairy.

Modi sought to know whether they also cultivate potatoes and have taken up beekeeping. ”How much hard work it takes to grow potatoes?” he asked one of the women. He also asked whether they had visited Nadabet, a newly-developed tourist attraction along the Indo-Pak border in the district.

One of the women said she had visited it.

When the prime minister asked if she would like her son to join the Border Security Force (BSF), she answered in the affirmative.

Modi also praised the farmers in the district for adopting drip irrigation on a large scale. Among those who met Modi were a few women who earned over Rs 1 crore annually from the sale of milk. They spoke about their business and earnings.

One woman said the Gujarat government’s Jyotigram scheme which brought electricity to her village enabled her take up dairy farming.

The prime minister also appealed to them to contribute to the creation of 75 lakes in the district as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

Modi inaugurated Banas Dairy’s new dairy complex and potato processing plant, built with investment of over Rs 600 crore.

The new complex will make it possible for Banas Dairy to process about 30 lakh litres of milk, produce about 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh litres of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk (khoya) and six tonnes of chocolate daily. Modi also laid the foundation stone of four gobar gas plants of 100 tonnes capacity each.