Himul’s processing plant at Khaprail. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, May 6: Himul, the largest milk co-operative society in north Bengal, is grappling for survival with Nadia farmers stopping the milk supply because of non-payment for weeks.

The state-owned enterprise, which sells dairy products and cattle feed, is in the red now and fresh funds need to be pumped in to clear the dues of milk farmers and raw material suppliers.

The society used to receive a daily supply of 25,000 litres of milk and produce 1,200mt fodder each month. However, the daily milk supply has come down to around 7,000 litres and the fodder production to 100mt.

“Signs are not positive as far as the future of Himul is concerned. Milk could not be processed and distributed because of less supply on at least two days, including today, in the past three weeks,” said Aloke Mitra, the general secretary of the Intuc-affiliated Himul Employees’ Union. “Our six chilling plants in the hills have been closed for two-three months after farmers stopped delivering milk as they were not paid money.To compensate the gap in the supply, milk was bought from Karimpur in Nadia for the past two-three weeks. But farmers there, too, are unwilling to continue business with us as dues to them have accumulated over Rs 1 crore.”

Around 200 co-operative societies — each having 100 farmers — in the Darjeeling hills used to send 18,000 litres of milk to the six chilling plants in the hills. From there, the milk would be sent to the production unit at Khaprail on the outskirts of Siliguri.

“The hill farmers stopped the supply when the dues reached Rs 1.6 crore,” said a Himul official.

With the halt in the supply from the hills, the daily delivery came down to 7,000 litres from 25,000 litres or so. “The 7,000 litres come from the plains in the Darjeeling district as farmers there are paid on a regular basis,” said the official. “As the Karimpur farmers were not paid money, their supply has also become irregular. If the situation continues to remain unchanged, the unit might close down any day. We used to receive around 7,000 litres of milk from Karimpur.”

The drop in the supply has also shrunk Himul’s market. Earlier, packaged milk was sent to the Dooars and Cooch Behar, but now, the sale is limited to some pockets of Darjeeling district and Jalpaiguri.

The financial crisis has hit Himul’s fodder production also. “In the cattle feed plant, the monthly production has come down to 100mt from 1,200mt because of shortage in the supply of raw materials. Himul owes around Rs 1 crore to the raw material suppliers,” said a source.

The aggrieved employees say the story does not end there. “Around 10-15 per cent of us have not yet received salaries of April. Besides, our pay has not been revised, while state government employees are given increased salaries recommended by the pay commission,” said an employee.

P.M.K. Gandhi, the Darjeeling district magistrate, who is also the Himul chairman, could not be contacted.