Shillong: The National Milk Day 2020 was celebrated today at a function organised by the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department and Dairy Development, Meghalaya at Yojana Bhavan, Main Secretariat, Shillong.
The function was attended by Deputy Chief Minister i/c Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department Prestone Tynsong, Principal Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department G.H.P. Raju, Chairman of Meghalaya Farmers Empowerment Commission K.N. Kumar and Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department Dr. Manjunatha C.
Addressing the gathering Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said that the National Milk Day is an appropriate celebration to honour the contributions of Dr. Verghese Kurien the ‘Father of the White Revolution’ in transforming the dairy sector and rural livelihood across the country. He also expressed hope that the various initiatives and programmes of the Government to ramp up milk production in the State will transform the dairy sector further adding that increased production and consumption of milk will help secure the nutritional security of children.
“Milk is a very important source of vitamins and protein and it could be one of the answers to combat malnutrition and improve overall health of our children. In trying to fulfil the production requirement of our state in the dairy sector, we are also creating a very strong institutional setup in terms of cooperative societies which ultimately will give economic benefit to the people,” he said while lauding the efforts of the various dairy cooperatives in the State.
The Deputy Chief Minister also said that the Government has envisioned a roadmap to empower dairy farmers and uplift rural livelihood through various mission mode projects under the dairy sector in the State. He further urged upon the cooperative societies to come forward and avail the loans under the milk mission provided by Government without any interest.
During the programme, awards were also distributed to outstanding dairy farmers and winners of various competitions.
A booklet on “The Dairy Movement in the State of Meghalaya” was also released by the Deputy Chief Minister and at the same time he also felicitated a 5-time International Kick Boxing Gold Medalist, Hameshaniah Suiam.
