A Sudha outlet near Rajgir railway station. Picture by Roshan Kumar

Health-conscious Nalanda University teachers and students are missing curd on menu because Bihar State Milk Cooperative Federation (Comfed) products sold under Sudha brand do not reach the tourist town.

Considered a digestive nutrient, one has to travel 25km to Biharsharif to buy Sudha curd. The town has a dozen Sudha parlours. But they sell only milk supplied from six-month-old Nalanda Dairy at Biharsharif. The new facility has not started preparing milk products like curd and paneer (cottage cheese), triggering the short supply in Rajgir.

Nalanda University vice-chancellor Gopa Sabharwal landed in awkward situations on a couple of occasions when restaurants failed to serve curd on demand from some faculty members and students. “Our students and faculty members have been demanding curd in lunch and dinner but there is no supply of it in Rajgir. So we can’t offer them curd,” she said.

The Nalanda University team includes faculty members, officials and students from different parts of the country as well as abroad. Two teachers, Samuel Wright is from US and Yen Ker is from Singapore. An equal number of students are from abroad — Ngawang from Bhutan and Akiro from Japan. They, too, are missing curd on the table at times. The varsity officials are apologetic for the shortage of curd, for which they are not responsible at all. The university dean, academic planning, Anjana Sharma, said: “Some students like to have curd with all their meals, especially with rice. When the hotel authorities express their inability to serve it, we feel bad.”

Curd has very high nutrition value.

V.K. Singh, a senior doctor with Patna Medical College and Hospital, said: “In curd, the lactose present in the milk converts into lactic acid, which is good for digestion.”

Echoing the views of Singh, dietician Sonia Sinha said: “The healthy bacteria in curd not only help in digestion but also improve the digestive system.” A source said some restaurants in Rajgir do sell local curd. But the varsity authorities are not in favour of serving it on health grounds.

In Rajgir, there are at least 12 Sudha milk parlours. Majority of them are dependent on the Nalanda dairy for the supply of milk. But milk products are yet to reach them from the nascent facility.

Murari Kumar Sharma, the owner of the Sudha milk parlour near Rajgir railway station, said: “We don’t sell curd and other milk products because they are not supplied from the Nalanda dairy.”

Some curd connoisseurs of Rajgir depend on some Sudha outlets at Biharsharif, where milk products are supplied from the Barauni dairy. But Sharma, the Sudha outlet owner near the station, doesn’t consider procuring curd from 25km away a profitable proposition.

Comfed managing director Harjot Kaur was unaware of the unavailability of Sudha curd in Rajgir. She said: “I was not aware of the situation in Rajgir. I shall look into the matter and ensure that the curd is supplied in Rajgir town at the earliest.”

Till Kaur keeps her word, the team Nalanda University will have to make do without curd.