80
S
tate
of
I
ndia
’
s
L
ivelihoods
R
eport
2015
Hand negotiated with two nationalised
companies for an insurance cover of
three years with a premium of
`
1200 for
an average value of
`
40,000 i.e.,
`
3 per
`
1000.
•
Developing an institutional support
system:
Hand in Hand facilitated addi-
tional institutions such as federations
(for mobilisation and support services)
and producer companies (for forward
and backward linkage business) for sup-
porting dairy farmers sustainably.
•
Intensive training
: Hand in Hand
developed a 15 day trainingmodule with
hands-on practical training for women
since managing cross-bred animals
required intensive management. The
training was spread over six months for
absorption of good practices.
•
Developing integrated service model:
To
address the need for veterinary ser-
vice, breeding (artificial insemination)
service, feed and fodder availability and
marketing tie-up with companies.
•
Incentive approach
to encourage the
organisers to retain and mobilise mem-
bers to consider it a business enterprise.
•
Hand in Hand
has also deployed a
highly qualified professional team to
work on the project.
Progress made till March 2015 is:
•
Training: About 1,000 members had
received basic training.
•
Credit for animal purchase: 2,128 ani-
mal loans (1,902 loans by Agricultural
Development Finance Company,
Tamil Nadu and 226 loans by different
banks) given.
•
Membership: 923 members have been
enrolled.
•
Total milk procured: 598,039 litres.
•
Amount realised from sales:
`
13.56
million.
•
Feed arranged: 25 tonnes of feed sold
with a small margin.
The key challenges faced in organising
dairy farmers are (a) high fluctuation inmilk
price paid by the companies is making pro-
ducers wary (b) retention of members (c)
ensuring quality and clean milk production
in light of age old practices is difficult to be
overcome (d) with government distributing
free cows, availability of cows at reasonable
rates (e) Women prefer to have limited
number of animals due to intensive work
involved and expansion of herd to bring in
business outlook is difficult.
Case study 4.3: Maitree dairy–A
women’s initiative in dairy
33
(Rajasthan)
When one meets the Board of Directors of
Maitree Dairy and hears their journey in
setting up an all-women dairy producer
company, the tenacity and grit of these
women is palpable. SRIJAN’s hard work in
some of the difficult areas, capability to turn
a near-failure-like-grant-based programme
to a sustainable initiative needs appreciation.
SRIJAN has been working in the Tonk
district since 2002, mobilising women
into SHGs and also into livelihood groups.
The World Bank funded District Poverty
Initiatives Project (DPIP-I) was imple-
mented in the seven poorest districts of
Rajasthan including Tonk from 2000 till
2007. The project inducted graded ‘murrah’
buffaloes from Haryana into beneficiary
families organised into Common Interest
Groups (CIGs). The government provided
a subsidy of 80 per cent when the recipients
were in a position to invest 20 per cent of the
cost from own savings. The murrah breed
was chosen over local breeds for its highmilk
yield and for longer period of productive
life to provide villagers with a good breed
to improve the yield.
While the idea of induction was to
improve the yield and income, the local
conditions and existing rearing practices in
33
This case study is based on discussions with the
board and staff of the producer company. The infor-
mative and elaborate case study ‘The establishment of
Maitree, a producer company of women’ a case study by
Stutilina Pal and Debasish Pradhan under the guidance
of Sankar Datta and Ved Arya has provided valuable
insights and inputs.
