The Rajasthan Cooperative Dairy Federation, renowned for marketing the Saras brand, stands proudly as one of the top 5 dairy cooperatives in India. Currently, Rajasthan holds the position of the second-highest milk-producing state in the country, contributing a substantial 14.44% to the total milk production in India. In an exclusive interview with Dairynews7x7, Smt. Sushma Arora, the Managing Director of RCDF, shared Saras’s ambitious vision – to be recognized as the most trusted brand among both farmers and consumers, offering a comprehensive range of healthy and nutritious dairy products.

Adding to her accolades, Smt. Sushma Arora was recently conferred with an honorary doctorate degree by the prestigious Cambridge Digital University in the United States. This esteemed recognition was bestowed upon Arora in acknowledgment of her remarkable contributions to the field of dairy development in the state of Rajasthan.

Que 1.  How has been your experience being there at helm of Saras for last two years ?

Ans. : Undoubtedly, it is a fantastic experience working as Managing Director of RCDF. When I had joined RCDF, milk procurement of RCDF was very low and we were facing hardship to meet out the market demand of milk & milk products. Simultaneously, lumpy skin disease spread through out the country especially in cow belts further darken the situation. Our challenge to save our indigenous cow breed and help our milk producers by providing them a better treatment at their doorstep and in this way we have facilitated our milk producers by providing them vaccines with effective coordination with Govt. of Rajasthan. 

Que 2. In your short stint of two years Rajasthan became largest milk producer in 2022 and Saras collected highest quantity of milk in 2023 ? What could be strategy behind such achievements ?

Rajasthan is among the biggest milk producing state in the country. When I had joined as MD, RCDF, the need of hour was to explore the reasons behind low milk procurement of Milk Unions and to overcome from them. We had not only increased the milk procurement price but also focused on field visits and personal interaction with milk producers by motivating them to join cooperative movement. I had personally visited milk-shed of almost all the Milk Unions and motivated large number of milk producers especially women pourers to pour their milk to Dairy Cooperative Societies. During my visits, I had generated trust amongst the milk producers that their milk will be fully procured and this assurance helped them inducting more milch animals.

Que 3. 2023 became a unique year with continuous milk production through out the nation. The weather also remained comparatively cooler this limiting demand of fermented milks, beverages and ice creams. This has led to a huge stock availability through out the country. How has Saras been tackling this situation of Plenty ?

Undoubtedly, I am fortunate that government introduced Bal Gopal Yojna for school going children to improve their nutritional requirement by adding milk made by Skimmed Milk Powder in their meal. This has helped RCDF to timely liquidate stocks. Other then this, we are regularly selling bulk loose milk as well as milk products like SMP & White Butter. 

Que 4. There has been rampant adulteration of ghee through out the country thereby demand of high quality ghee has plummeted. What action have you planned in Rajasthan to counter these ?

Surely, adulteration is a nationwide threat and it is to be addressed at different levels by all the stakeholders. We are in constant touch with Commissioner, Food Safety to direct concerned officials to take frequent samples of ghee from market. The campaign of

of Government of Rajasthan has also helped to control this situation. We have also upgraded our in-house laboratory facilities to ensure wholesome and safe milk products to the consumers.

At pilot level, we had introduced high quality QR code on our ghee packs and now we are extending it to our all Milk Unions.

Under Trade Mark Act, we have acted against many pseudo Saras brands.

Que 5. Markets are demanding now and innovative dairy products are gaining traction. What are the future plans of Saras for their consumers ?

We are in process for exploring the possibilities for in-house production of local sweets to preserve taste & flavour of that particular area. More products like Ice-cream in various flavours & pack size, Cheese, Butter Chiplets, Fermented products in Tetra Pak to be added to our product basket.

Que 6. What do you have to say on direct subsidy to dairy farmers in Saras. Do you feel that there could be better ways of addressing their issues and helping them double their income ?

The subsidy under Chief Minister Dugdh Sambal Yojna is being transferred through DBT to milk producers supplying milk to RCDF affiliated Milk Unions. This has helped the milk producers in manifolds by uplifting their socio-economic condition and better livelihood. RCDF is supplying high quality balanced feed and Mineral Mixture at reasonable rates to milk producers to reduce their milk production cost and improve milk production. Various social welfare schemes and insurance policies like Saras Samuhik Aarogya Bima Yojna (SSABY) and Raj Saras Surksha Kavach Yojna (RSSKY) are in force to protect the interest of milk producers.

Source : Personal Interview with Smt. Sushma Arora IAS (Rajasthan 2001), Managing Director of Rajasthan Cooperative Dairy Federation Limited, Jaipur, by Kuldeep Sharma, Chief Editor of Dairynews7x7.”