The Union Minister of Heavy Industries, Mahendra Nath Pandey, has introduced the Dugdh Sanakalan Sathi (Milk Collection Partner) mobile application. It has the potential to significantly transform the Indian dairy industry by tackling crucial issues in milk collection processes. The objective is to enhance milk quality, promote transparency among stakeholders, and optimise and streamline operations at the village level, specifically within Milk Cooperative Societies.
It was created by Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL) in Jaipur, a prominent central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The app will provide comprehensive services to milk producers in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, and others, ensuring effective communication and accessibility.
The Dugdh Sankalan Sathi mobile App will usher in transparency, efficiency, and empowerment for all stakeholders engaged in the milk collection process, leading to significant advantages for milk producers and fostering the overall growth of the dairy sector, Pandey noted.
The application will be contextually active in the field to improve operations at the grassroots level across all partnerships including milk producers, milk co-operative societies, milk organisations, and state federations. The release said that REIL recognised the need for advancements in the dairy industry, and “developed a comprehensive cloud-based solution that leverages the latest state-of-the-art platform.”
A key feature of the app is the online monitoring of daily milk poured at Milk Cooperative Societies, allowing for efficient tracking and management. Additionally, the app provides real-time updates on milk prices directly from the cloud server, ensuring transparency and eliminating human errors in price calculations. Another feature is the facilitation of direct beneficiary transfers, enabling milk payments and government subsidies to be directly credited to the bank accounts of milk producers through the app. The app also offers push notifications for milk collection directly to the milk producers’ app.
Pandey said that with the introduction of this app, the Ministry of Heavy Industries has taken a groundbreaking stride in fulfilling the government’s commitment to digitise processes and enable direct beneficiary transfer (DBT) to milk producers.
The Indian government has been actively developing e-governance apps to facilitate the seamless and efficient delivery of public services to its citizens. These apps serve as a digital bridge between the government and the people, empowering individuals with easy access to essential services and information.
In April, the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, launched the SATHI (Seed Traceability, Authentication, and Holistic Inventory) portal and mobile application. It is a comprehensive online system that centralises seed traceability, authentication, and inventory management. It addresses the challenges associated with seed production, quality seed identification, and seed certification in the country.
As OpenGov Asia reported, the portal is a quality assurance system and can identify the source of seeds in the seed production chain. The system will consist of seven integrated verticals of the seed chain: Research Organisation, Seed Certification, Seed Licensing, Seed Catalogue, Dealer to Farmer Sales, Farmer Registration, and Seed direct benefit transfer. Seeds with valid certification can only be sold by valid licensed dealers to centrally registered farmers who will receive subsidies through DBT directly into their pre-validated bank accounts.
