Amul MD supports Biplab Deb’s cow remarks, says dairy industry is modernized and lucrative

Tripura came under Bharatiya Janata Party rule in early 2018, having snatched Tripura from the clutches of Communist rule. Communist Party of India (Marxist) had ruled Tripura for 25 years, reducing the opportunities for employment in its regime. The resources in the state had been underutilised, and mismanagement of the government coupled with poor administration had created such a situation that the youth of Tripura had to leave their homes in order to earn an honest living. When Biplab Deb took oath as the Chief Minister of Tripura on 9^th March, 2018, he was presented with a long list of problems. He understood that it would be very difficult to give government jobs to all the suitable candidates. The problems in the bureaucracy and the state machinery would take some time to mend. The Left-leaning media and the opposition, however, did not want to give him time to correct the lapses made by their political comrades. Instead, they chose to attack him over every statement he made. His statement given at a press conference urging the youth to engage in dairy and poultry farming was particularly targeted.

In a press conference conducted in Agartala, Biplab Deb had asked the youth of Tripura to engage in the rearing of cows, poultry and pigs. He urged the youth to take advantage of the Prime Minister’s Mudra Yojna for rural development. He attempted to make the youth of Tripura self-dependent rather than banking on the ever-thinning hopes of getting government jobs. Any state in any country of the world cannot provide government jobs to all of its citizens, and this is precisely what Biplab Deb had in mind. He wanted to show the entrepreneurial path of becoming successful to the youth of Tripura.

His statements were ill-received by the media who mocked and ridiculed the statement. They forgot that it was their own political comrades who had led to a shortage of jobs in the first place, whether public or private. While the loonies of the Left were busy insulting Biplab Deb and his goal to make Tripura self-dependent, his statement received support from unexpected quarters- Amul.

Managing Director of Amul, RS Sodhi backed the comments made by Biplab Deb. “People are under the wrong perception that only illiterates do dairy farming as it involves things like cleaning dung and waking up early, but now it has become modern and mechanised. It is a very lucrative and stable business,” Sodhi said, backing CM Biplab Deb’s comments. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, (GCMMF), which is the Apex organisation of Amul, is a shining example of the success of modern dairy farming. With an annual turnover exceeding US$4 billion, it shows the true potential of dairy farming in a nation where the market for dairy increases on a daily basis. This comment by the MD of Amul should be enough to silence the trolls who have been targeting Biplab Deb for his comments.

Tripura is a landlocked state with a low population which is close to 0.3% of India’s total, and shares a border with Bangladesh which many refugees use to cross over. Lack of prominent industries created problems for the educated youth who had to move away from their homes to get employed as per their educational qualification. Tripura is a highly literate state with 95% of its population coming under literate category. More than half the population in the state is engaged in agriculture while only 27% of available land can be cultivated owing to hilly terrain and forest cover. Dairy farming as a means of livelihood would bring prosperity and joy to the state of Tripura and its population. Sodhi backed Biplab Deb’s comments by  pointing out that Tripura is a milk-deficit state which imports milk worth Crores of Rupees from other states every year. He also pointed out that a person engaged in dairy farming could easily earn six to seven lakhs per annum with 10 cows.

The problem with the Left and its sympathisers has been that they do not create opportunities when they are in power and demand everything once they are out of power. Chief Minister Biplab Deb has tried to show the way to the youth of Tripura. The elitist media has demeaned an honest means of livelihood being proposed to the country’s youth. But then again, when have the Communists and Leftists ever grasped the concept of honest, hard work?