Kerala milk to flow to migrant labour camps, not in drains

Amid reports that Tamil Nadu stopped all incoming supplies of milk from the northern districts of Kerala, milk collected at the societies was being thrown out in the drains. But now, a Kerala Minister directed that such an act should not happen and diverted it to the various camps where migrant labourers are put up.

Following the lockdown, there are over 5000 migrant labour camps in the state where close to two lakh people are residing. The state government is providing food and all amenities to these camps.

State Forest and Animal Husbandry Minister K. Raju told the media that he, after hearing about the milk being thrown in drains, have asked the state owned collecting agency - MILMA to ensure that all excess milk be collected and then supplied to the migrant labour camps in the state.

"It was a wrong act to throw the collected milk and it should not have happened," said Raju.

TV channels in the state in the past few days have been showing milk being poured into the drains by dairy farmers.

The majority of the milk societies in the state hand over the milk to AMILMA.

The normal practise of MILMA is - they carry the excess milk to nearby Tamil Nadu where there are plants which convert milk into milk powder.

However, in Kerala there is only one such plant, and that too is not working.