SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 15: Minister of State for Forest, Ecology, Environment, Animal & Sheep Husbandry, Cooperative and Fisheries, Mir Zahoor Ahmad Thursday inspected the plant of J&K Milk Producer’s Co-operative Limited (JKMPCL) at Cheshmashahi. 
Accompanied by MLA Sonawar, Mohammad Ashraf Mir and a team of officers, the Minister took a round of the plant. He inspected the processing unit and main laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art testing machines for checking the quality of the milk including contents like fat, lactose, protein, SG and adulterants.
The Minister was informed that before the milk is collected at the plant the quality of the milk is checked at the local level by registered societies which too have facility of quality-check machines. He was told that some 130 societies and around 10,000 milk producing families are associated with the cooperative.
Seeking details about the rates paid to milk producers, the Minister was informed that while it ranges from Rs 22 to Rs 38 per kilo (or litre), depending on the quality of the milk supplied, it is on the higher side in most cases, while payments are made to them after every 10 days. He was also informed that the societies are paid a commission of Rs 1.5 per litre for their services besides a bonus to those who provide better quality milk.
It was given out during the inspection that while the existing capacity of the Cheshmashahi Milk Plant is 20,000 litres it shall increase to 50,000 litres once Rs 3.75 crore Central Government-funded expansion project is completed. The Minister was told that the expansion project is expected to be completed within next two months.
The Minister was informed that the milk products are mostly supplied in Srinagar, under the brand name Snowcap Taaza with 3% fat content and Snowcap Slim & Trim with 1.5% fat content, while Snowcap Shakti with higher fat content is supplied to armed forces. The products available in the market are Snowcap Dahi and Snowcap Shudh Ghee.
The Minister directed for making Snowcap Shudh Ghee available at the J&K Cooperative Super Bazaar at Lal Chowk besides setting-up of exclusive milk points around Srinagar for selling Snowcap products.
The Minster expressed contentment with the production at the Milk plant and stressed on making further efforts to remove the middle-men from the scene, who take away major profit, forcing the milk producers to indulge in adulteration.
