Aavin units checked after pilferage in Vellore, K'giri diaries

While the Krishnagiri dairy general manager was suspended following the discovery of 1.50 crore litres milk being diverted to a non-existent private dairy at Kallakurichi in contravention of rules, five senior staff at Vellore were suspended following Rs 1.50 lakh worth milk going missing.

Aavin top brass were shocked when they were told by the culprits at the Vellore unit that the milk had ‘evaporated’ due to heat.

This resulted in teams from Aavin and the DR (deputy registrar) cooperatives checking all the 17 dairies in the state. Sources said “Three member teams from the DR cooperatives and five member teams from Aavin visited all dairies to check for malpractices so that payment to milk farmers was not affected or held up.”

It was also revealed that the Krishnagiri dairy chairman had appealed to Aavin MD P Kamaraj to withdraw the suspension against the dairy GM as the 2 per cent leakage allowed on daily basis was not taken into account. “They were willing to repay the amount over and above the 2 per cent, but they were bluntly told by Kamaraj that the leakage should have been calculated on a daily basis and not at the end of the year.”

Meanwhile, a cold war erupted between Aavin and the cooperative department as the former felt the dairy inspections were undertaken to save the Krishnagiri cooperative DR as the district dairy comes under his direct control. “As he failed to do the necessary checking, it resulted in this loss. But he was not questioned and instead the checks were undertaken,” a top official said.

“Once word got out about the checks all dairies ensured that everything was in order,” the source added.