Dairy Development Institute (DDC), which has a loss of 5 billion and arrears to farmers of 1 billion, has started preparations to open a new industry in Pokhara. DDC, which has been under the grip of extreme politicization, has been in the grip of financial shortage for years. While DDC had privatized the Pokhara plant 22 years ago i.e. in 2061 saying that it could not be operated.

Farmers who have not received their arrears are also forced to always protest to get payment from DDC. Only on Sunday, farmers protested at the central office of DDC in Lanchaur demanding their payment. Some farmers from Dhading, Nuwakot, Kavre, Bhaktapur, Sindhupalchok, Lalitpur and Kathmandu staged sit-ins and demonstrations under the leadership of All Nepal Kisan Federation. 

"It's been a long time since farmers have not received money from selling milk, they have to protest to get their hard work earned," said Sarita Bhusal, the general secretary of the federation. "Milk farmers have been hit a lot, we have not asked for subsidy, we have asked for money from the sale of milk," he said. 

 Another farmer Krishna Prasad Adhikari also said that DDC sold milk in cash but did not give money to the farmers. "Farmers have not received money for 4/5 months, but employees eat milk and ghee as bonus. They don't even take a loan from the government to pay the farmers,' said the officer, 'even if it is by reducing the staff, the arrears of the farmers must be paid.' 

Currently DDC has 550 permanent and 320 temporary employees. Employees get one liter of milk per day and one liter of ghee per month. 3 crores are spent monthly only on employee salaries and services. 

The cumulative loss of DDC is more than Rs. Despite operating at a loss of around 300 million per year, it is being tried to increase investment in land and infrastructure in the interest of a limited group.

'Though it is appropriate to invest and market, the situation of DDC is critical at this time. There is pressure to pay the arrears of the farmers and also the gratuity of the employees. At the same time, the loan taken from the government and the interest also have to be paid," said a senior official of DDC, "It is not in anyone's interest for DDC, which is in crisis, to invest in new land and infrastructure and operate the plant. Even if it fulfills the interests of a limited number of people, it will not do DDC any good.

DDC's annual management expenses are around Rs 30 crore. By 2080/81, the accumulated loss is Rs 2.5 billion and the arrears to dairy farmers have reached Rs 1 billion. According to DDC staff, accumulated losses will increase by another Rs 30/35 crore in 2081/82. The gratuity to be paid to the employees is about 2 billion rupees and the debt from the government is also 1 billion 25 million rupees. 

Since 2078, DDC has repeatedly taken loans of 1.25 billion from the Ministry of Finance to pay the arrears of milk. But in the dry season  The arrears of the farmers are still outstanding. But at this time, DDC started looking for land in Pokhara. According to

staff, operating a new plant will not be like a private dairy. From land to physical infrastructure processing, packaging to inventory to storage should be built. The condition of the currently operating plant is in a dilapidated state. Management has not been able to improve. But limited interest groups are trying to increase investment in infrastructure in new places. 

It takes at least 40 million rupees to build physical infrastructure for all dairy products from milk, butter, cheese. It is not known who is trying to open an industry in Pokhara when the operational condition of the offices from the center to the district is critical. DDC Board of Directors Chairman Ved Bahadur Chhetri's house is Syangja, Pokhara, perhaps under his own pressure. Chairman Chhetri had started looking for land to open an industry in Pokhara for a year and a half. He also sent a letter to the Metropolitan Municipality for that. Now it is more intense. 

DDC spokesperson Neelkanth Gautam said that even though the land of DDC had to be sold during the reign of the King, now there is a demand from the people. He admitted that the board of directors decided to open the plant due to the demand of the people. But he says that it is not possible to buy infrastructure and land with DDC's investment.

The management committee has already decided to open a plant in Pokhara. Land is also being searched. But DDC is not in a position to move forward by building the factory itself. DDC is ready to go if the local government builds the infrastructure along with the land,'' Information Officer Gautam said. The employees' gratuity has not been paid, in such a situation it is not possible to build infrastructure by buying land.'

DDC Chairman Chhetri claimed that even though the process of finding land has progressed, the issue of infrastructure construction has not been finalized. He did not want to talk about farmers' arrears, gratuity etc. Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality has already decided to give land to establish the plant. According to sources, the Metropolitan Corporation has decided to provide 12 acres of land in Ward No. 25. But the metropolitan city argues that the infrastructure should be built by the DDC. Motilal Timsina, spokesperson of Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality, also confirmed that a decision has been made regarding the land grant for opening the

plant. DDC had sent a letter about one and a half years ago to provide the land. After receiving the letter, the Metropolitan Corporation conducted a study in the ward. During the study, it was found that the Dhaulagiri area is suitable," he said, "The decision to give the Bagar land, which was used by the locals in the past, was made a month and a half ago. Now the land has been demarcated.

Deepak Kharal, secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that he was not aware of DDC taking land and operating the plant in Pokhara. DDC is run by the board. It will be implemented after the decision of the board," Secretary Kharal said. "Except for policy decisions, there is no coordination with the ministry in most of the decisions. That's why I didn't even know about setting up the plant.

The Dairy Industry Association has said that it is wrong to bring the government dairy industry into operation again when the government has already privatized it. "Unable to run the industry, the government has privatized DDC in Pokhara. Now it is wrong to come to open this place by myself again," said Rajkumar Dahal, president of the Dairy Industry Association. "It is not right to say that I am coming to open an industry by myself when the private sector is told to do it." It was handed over to the private sector when it could not operate. The purpose of privatization was to encourage the private sector and bring in investment. "It was to privatize the dairy sector, reduce unnecessary government expenditure and make the supply chain of dairy and milk products agile," he said, "Now when DDC comes again, the private sector will be betrayed."