Strengthening, Re-organization and Expansion of Milk Unions and Societies (General/SCP)

What is the milk union strengthening scheme?

Strengthening, Re-organization and Expansion of Milk Unions and Societies is a district-sector scheme of the Dairy Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh. According to the department's own listing of schemes operated under the district sector, "the main objective of this scheme is to provide financial assistance to milk unions/societies to increase participation of milk producer farmers in milk production".

The scheme is the department's core institution-building instrument. Uttar Pradesh runs its dairy sector through a three-tier cooperative structure. The village-level Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Samiti (milk producers' cooperative society), the district milk union, and at the state level the Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation (PCDF), which markets under the Parag brand. If the village society at the bottom of that structure does not exist, does not work, or has no money to run on, nothing above it functions. This scheme funds that bottom tier.

The scheme is listed by the department in two parallel streams, General and SCP. SCP is the Special Component Plan, the earmarked allocation for Scheduled Caste beneficiaries. The components are identical; the budget line and the eligibility documentation differ.

What assistance does the scheme provide?

The Dairy Development Department lists the following components of financial assistance under this scheme:

• Organisation of a new society, the cost of forming and registering a new village dairy cooperative.
• Re-organisation of a defunct society, reviving a society that has stopped collecting milk, by reconstituting its membership and management committee.
• Working capital for the operation of the society, so that the society can pay producers for milk before the union settles its own bill.
• Managerial grant; support towards the cost of running the society's management.
• Transport subsidy for moving milk from the society to the chilling centre or dairy plant.
• Head-load subsidy for milk carried on foot or by cycle where no vehicle route exists.
• Other necessary equipment required at dairy plants and at societies, weighing and testing equipment, cans, and society-level fittings.
• Transport vehicles.
• Establishment of dairy plants and chilling centres, their expansion, and purchase of land for them.

Two related departmental programmes usually arrive with this one and are worth knowing, because a society applying for strengthening is often the same society being equipped:

• Automatic Milk Collection Units (AMCU) are established in new and re-organised societies so that milk weighing and fat testing are done on a modern scientific system and the price appears immediately on a display unit in front of the producer. The department states plainly that this transparency is what builds producer trust.
• Bulk Milk Coolers (BMC) are established in a cluster of 5 to 10 societies so that milk is chilled immediately, which checks bacterial growth and preserves freshness before the milk is moved to the plant by tanker.

Who is eligible for assistance under this scheme?

Who can be assisted:

• Village-level dairy cooperative societies registered under the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Societies Act, including newly organised societies and defunct societies applying for revival.
• District milk unions, for equipment, vehicles, chilling centres, plant expansion and land purchase.
• Societies and unions in the district where the department has a district-sector budget allocation for the financial year concerned.
• Under the SCP stream, societies whose membership and benefit flow to Scheduled Caste milk producers, against the earmarked allocation.

Who cannot apply, or is not eligible:

• Individual dairy farmers cannot apply for a personal grant, subsidy or loan under this scheme. This is the single most common misunderstanding. The scheme funds institutions; the producer's route in is to become a member of the village society and pour milk there. Individual cattle-rearer benefits sit in different Uttar Pradesh schemes such as Nand Baba Milk Mission's Mukhyamantri Pragatisheel Pashupalak Protsahan Yojana, Nandini Krishak Samridhi Yojana and Swadeshi Gau Samvardhan Yojana.
• Private dairies and private milk companies are not eligible under this cooperative-sector scheme. Private-sector dairy investment in Uttar Pradesh is handled under the Uttar Pradesh Dairy Development and Milk Products Promotion Policy 2022, through the dairy investment route.
• Unregistered milk collection groups with no cooperative registration.
• A society applying for a component not listed in the scheme, for example, purchase of cattle for members, which belongs to other schemes.
• A society that cannot show milk pouring or a viable membership base, since the assistance is meant to make collection work rather than to fund a body with no producers.

What documents are required?

How to apply for milk union and society strengthening assistance

1. Pass a resolution in the society's management committee naming the exact component sought — new organisation, revival, working capital, managerial grant, transport or head-load subsidy, equipment, vehicle, chilling centre or land, and the amount.
2. Prepare the proposal file with the registration certificate, the member list with the milk pouring record, the procurement and sale statement, audited accounts where available, and quotations or estimates for any purchase.
3. Submit the proposal to the district milk union (Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh) for your district. The union is the first tier of scrutiny and the route through which district-sector funds move.
4. The District Dairy Development Officer examines and forwards the proposal against the district's annual budget allocation under the General or SCP stream.
5. The Dairy Development Department sanctions the assistance and releases it to the society or union bank account.
6. Complete the work and file the utilisation certificate with bills, photographs and, for equipment or vehicles, the installation or registration record.

How to apply for a new society

1. Assemble the minimum number of milk producers in the village willing to pour milk daily to a common collection point.
2. Approach the district milk union for the registration formalities of a new Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Samiti.
3. Register the society and elect a management committee.
4. Apply under the organisation-of-new-society component, which is also the stage at which the society can request an AMCU so that weighing and testing are transparent from day one.

How to check the status of a proposal

Ask the district milk union for the dispatch number and date on which your proposal was forwarded, and then follow it with the District Dairy Development Officer. Departmental monitoring runs on the Dairy Development MIS at dairyotddarpan.co.in, and the department also maintains a data centre portal at updd.data-center.co.in. Sanctions follow the annual budget cycle, so a proposal submitted late in a financial year frequently waits for the next allocation.

Why proposals get rejected or held

• The district allocation for the year is exhausted, particularly for capital components like vehicles and chilling centres.
• The society is not registered, or its registration has lapsed.
• No pouring record, so the society's viability cannot be established.
• A defunct society with no reconstituted membership; revival needs a membership base and a working committee first.
• Wrong stream. An SCP proposal without the Scheduled Caste membership documentation, or a General proposal filed against an SCP line.
• No quotations for a purchase proposal, so the amount cannot be sanctioned.
• Earlier utilisation certificate pending for a previous sanction to the same society.
• An individual applying where only a society or union can be assisted.

Key dates

This is a district-sector scheme funded from the annual budget, so the operative calendar is the financial year beginning 1 April. There is no application window and no last date; proposals are received through the year and sanctioned against the allocation available. Proposals filed in the first half of the financial year have the best chance of being funded in the same year.

Grievance redressal and contact

• Milk Commissioner's Office, Third Floor, Jawahar Bhawan, Ashok Marg, Lucknow-226001 to phone 0522-2286927, email mcup@nic.in.
• Public Information Officer, Dairy Development Department: 0522-2286644, email mcup@up.nic.in. The Appellate Officer is on 0522-2286634.
• District Dairy Development Officer and the district milk union, for proposal-level issues.
• Jansunwai, the Uttar Pradesh integrated grievance portal at jansunwai.up.nic.in, for a written complaint with a tracking number.

No fee is payable to any agent for a sanction under this scheme. All assistance moves from the department to a registered society or union bank account.