THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
A probe by a panel of experts has found as “baseless” the alleged discrepancy regarding the physical stock of maize at the cattle feed factory of Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF) at Malampuzha, reported over a year back.
The Director Board of KCMMF, known by its brand name Milma, had ordered the probe in 2023, in the wake of the allegation, raised by certain quarters, that there had been some discrepancy regarding the actual stock of maize at the unit.
The 360th Board meeting held on July 22, 2023, after discussing the issue, decided to set up a committee to look into the allegation. After visiting the factory and examining all records, the panel found that the suspected discrepancy in the stock arose from an error in entering the accumulated loss since 2019 in the stock register and there was no actual shortfall in the physical stock. The 361st Board meeting, held earlier this week, evaluated and accepted the probe report.
The panel noted that the suspected shortfall in physical stock of maize, which is the main raw material for producing cattle feed, arose from the delay in entering the processing loss in stock register. It also found that the processing loss at the factory was below the halfway mark of the prescribed limit set for cattle feed factories. The report stated that the panel did not come across any valid evidence to substantiate the allegation.
The committee submitted its comprehensive report after going through all the relevant documents and examining other related details during a visit to the cattle feed factory from August 7 to 12.
The panel comprised former Director, Animal Husbandry, Karnataka Milk Federation, Ramachandra Bhatt; and former Deputy General Manager (Engineering), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), U B Das as technical experts.
The other Members of the panel include KCMMF Director Board members Johny Joseph (Ernakulam Regional Union); P Srinivasan (Malabar Regional Union) and K R Mohanan Pillai, also Administrative Committee member of Trivandrum Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union (TRCMPU).
