By Prakashchandra Bhattarai

Damauli, Feb. 27: Chakrawarti Social Entrepreneur Women's Cooperative in Devghat Rural Municipality-5 has launched a campaign to make Devghat self-reliant in milk with emphasis on animal husbandry.

Tara Devi Pant, chair of the cooperative, said that the organisation, which has been operating the dairy industry through the cooperative, aims to make Devghat self-reliant in milk and milk products.

Established in 2068 BS with 25 members, the cooperative now has 563 women shareholders.Apart from monthly savings and loans, the cooperative also operates a dairy by collecting milk from the shareholders.Manager of the cooperative, Sangita Ojha, said that 1,200 litres of milk is collected daily in the dairy.

She said that there is a plan to encourage everyone for milk production and collect as soon as possible despite the decline in milk production due to the inability of all shareholders to engage in cow and buffalo raising.

Ojha said that the milk produced from the buffaloes and cows raised by the shareholders will be collected in the dairy of the cooperative.

The cooperative has been selling around 1,000 litres of milk in Devghat area and milk products including ghee, cheese are being produced and sold, she said.

The cooperative has been providing loans to the livestock shareholders at cheap interest rates, collecting their savings and also selling feeds required for the cattle.

Manager Ojha said that they faced many problems in managing the dairy even though it has its own building. She said that sometimes the milk could not be chilled due to lack of adequate chilling machine because of which the milk went to waste.

The organisation was assisted with a chilling machine last year by the Livestock and Fisheries Development Centre in Kathmandu.