In a bid to empower women, Surat based Sumul Dairy is in the process to open community dairy farms at different villages of Surat and Tapi district to give employment to the women of these villages.
In a telephonic interview given to Indian Cooperative Sumul Dairy Managing Director S V Chaudhari said, “One of our projects namely community dairy farms is being set-up at Bhanavadi Village in Vyara Tehsil of Surat District in Gujarat and is likely to be completed by the next month. Dairy farms will be equipped with over 200 cattle”.
“Over 1.30 lakh women are associated with the ‘SumulMahilaBachat Group Scheme’ where women save their money with Sumul and we are also paying interest on their deposits. In the first phase, our dairy will provide employment to 20-25 women linked to this scheme. The estimated cost of a single dairy farm is about Rs 2.5 crore, he said.
He further said, “As the number of animals increases, we will give employment to other women as well. Under the scheme women can earn over 9k per month and if we get success we will replicate the same in other villages of Surat and Tapi district.
Besides, during the current financial year Dairy has launched different bakery products. “We have made wheat flour Nan Khatai and dry fruits Nan Khatai to avoid Maida (White flour) impact on health. We are also making sweets which will remain fresh for a month”, he asserted.
Sumul has also launched Probiotic Dahi which is best for improving digestion and it is getting good response, Chaudhari noted.
Meanwhile, Sumul Dairy MD has urged the government to run the schemes through cooperatives to get optimal results because co-ops have their existence in almost all the villages of the country.
Sumul has also started exporting cow ghee to the United States of America, Canada and countries in West Asia.
Sumul Dairy is procuring milk from Surat and Tapi to the tune of more than 16 lakh liter every day.
Sumul is one among the 17 district unions which act as manufacturing units of dairy products for Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the marketers of Amul brand of products.