Dairy units under Dalit Bandhu not helpful to beneficiaries

Khammam: The dairy units sanctioned under the Dalit Bandu scheme in Chintakani mandal are proving to be unhelpful to the beneficiaries due to some reasons.

Spread of the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is the main reason. It infected 50,000 cattle in the country so far; and about 15,000 cattle in Uttar Pradesh. With this, the central government banned the transport of cattle between states. AP is not allowing entry to the cattle coming from Tamil Nadu on its border.

With this, the buying of milch animals for DB has been stopped. Veterinary official U Srihari said, “Administering of vaccines is the only way to check the virus spread. A new vaccine is likely to arrive soon to control the virus.”

Padishala Mariamma, native of Nagulavancha under Chintakani mandal having been sanctioned a dairy unit under Dalit Bandu is waiting to buy buffaloes.

“I used to work as a farm labourer before joining the DB scheme. I have not gone for daily wage work for the last four months and I have no earnings now. The grass grew to ten feet in my field to feed the cattle. We are waiting for the animals to come,” she said.

Interestingly, even against this backdrop, the state government deposited the money to the remaining beneficiaries of dairy units. They all have to wait for another four months and there is no use till then to the grass grown in the fields.

Officials selected 567 persons to give dairy units under the scheme and released funds to 60 beneficiaries. The government prohibited buying the buffaloes from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, keeping the experience of recycling in sheep distribution programmes. 

There were many instances in the sheep distribution programme that the beneficiaries followed a recycle method – buy the sheep from a person for proof of ‘physical presence’ of the animal in their farms and then return them to the same person with a discount.

The sheep distribution turned out to be a drama of sorts in many villages and there was no sheep in the possession of some 40 per cent of the beneficiaries.

With this, the government banned the buying of milch animals from the two states and asked the beneficiaries to get them either from Tamil Nadu or Haryana. But, this also posed problems. There are complaints that the milch animals from Tamil Nadu are not giving a good yield.

Neerudu Khadarbabu, a native of Kodumuru who got four buffaloes from Tamil Nadu, said, “We are getting four litres of milk from each cattle and we are being paid Rs 480 per day in the milk-selling centre for 16 liters. The TN cattle are not on par with the Haryana cattle, each of which will give more than eight liters of milk per day. My earnings will be better if I and my wife go to the farm and work. We will fetch at least Rs 1,200 per day.” 

The hard work in the dairy unit is heavy and the work will not end in a day. The buffaloes from AP or Haryana used to give eight to ten litres a day, but not the TN cattle,” he stressed.

G Veeranagaiah, another beneficiary of DB from Nagulavancha said, “We asked the officials to allow us to buy cattle from Andhra Pradesh. A purchase from Tamil Nadu costs Rs 85,000, including the transport expenses. We will get good milch animals in AP at Rs 80,000 per animal. The non-launch of the programme poses a problem as we are unable to go for other work and have to remain tight with the dairy unit.”