The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has been advised to bring all its subsidiaries, including Mother Dairy, under the RTI Act, 2005, the government said on Friday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala said the NDDB has been advised “to extend the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 in Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Pvt Ltd (MDFVPL) and other subsidiary companies in the interest of transparency, accountability and to increase the trust of its consumers.

Mother Dairy is one of the leading milk suppliers in the country. It sells more than 30 lakh litres of milk per day in the Delhi-NCR market.

In reply, the NDDB has stated that the decision regarding applicability of RTI Act, 2005 is sub-judice in the case of MDFVPL, the minister said.

The NDDB further said that the advice given by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying to extend provisions of RTI Act to other subsidiaries of NDDB could be considered after arriving at the decision in the case of applicability of RTI Act, 2005 to Mother Dairy, Rupala informed.

The minister also said that the NDDB has no share in Keventer Agro Ltd, Kolkata.

“However, the NDDB was holding 10 per cent of the share of Metro Dairy Limited, Kolkata, which was a Joint Venture Company formed between West Bengal Milk Federation, NDDB and Keventer Agro Limited. NDDB sold its share to the financial institution ICICI, in accordance with the provision of the shareholders’ agreement,” he added.

The Economic Times 03rd Dec 2021