LEH: A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between UT Administration, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh and National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for dairy development and operationalisation of Milk Pasteurisation Plant at Agling, Leh.

The MoU was signed at Ladakh Bhawan in New Delhi in the presence of Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R K Mathur. Chairman, LAHDC Leh, Advocate Tashi Gyalson; Member of Parliament from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal; Chairman, NDDB, Meenesh Shah and Secretary, AHD/Cooperatives, Ravinder Kumar, were present at the event.

LG Mathur thanked NDDB for their noble initiative to develop the dairy sector in Ladakh. He called it a people's drive rather than the Government's and stressed the need for the participation and involvement of the local people to make the drive successful.

LG Mathur said that the milk pasteurisation plant would enable the development of entrepreneurship in the dairy sector and generate good income for the local youth. He further stated that it would put Ladakh on track to achieve carbon-neutrality through less utilisation of transportation while importing dairy products from other states to Ladakh, especially in the winters.

Chairman, LAHDC Leh, Advocate Tashi Gyalson, stated that the development of the milk pasteurisation plant would enable better income generation for the locals but also benefit the Army, which is the largest consumer of milk in Ladakh.

MP Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, suggested that small milk pasteurisation plants may be set up in different sub-division of Ladakh so that the local people can avail its benefits and help in boosting the local economy.

Chairman, NDDB, Meenesh Shah, shared about the dairy cooperative model of NDDB and informed the drives taken by them to develop the dairy sector in various states of the country.

Earlier, Secretary Ravinder welcomed the guests, whereas Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Dr Mohd Raza, gave the vote of thanks.