Patna: CM Samrat Choudhary on Sunday inaugurated the integrated command and control centre (ICCC) at the office of Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation Ltd (Comfed) in Patna, after unveiling its foundation plaque. He also launched several dairy, fisheries and retail facilities as part of the programme.Following the inauguration, Choudhary transferred Rs 68 crore through direct account transfer to the bank accounts of more than 1 lakh beneficiaries associated with 5,832 dairy cooperative societies. The payment was made against the supply of 1.46 crore litres of milk. He also inaugurated a newly built call centre, ‘Sudha Sampark’, intended to strengthen communication with milk producers and provide them with better support.The CM later inaugurated a Sudha Cafeteria and a vegetable shop at Gate No 2 of Patna Zoo and reviewed the facilities. He also opened a Fresh Catch Kiosk and Sudha Parlour at Meen Bhavan in Mithapur, where he inspected the arrangements and varieties of fresh fish available to consumers.Choudhary flagged off Fresh Catch vehicles from Buxar to Siliguri and announced plans to establish 100 Fresh Catch kiosks across Bihar. The outlets will provide a market for the state’s fresh fish under the brand. He said the initiative would help increase fish farmers’ incomes while ensuring quality products for consumers.Addressing the gathering, Choudhary said agriculture and animal husbandry played a crucial role in Bihar’s economy. The state govt was committed to increasing the income of farmers and livestock rearers, providing modern facilities and creating better markets for their produce. He said Bihar’s milk, vegetables and fish should reach national and international markets.He said direct payments into bank accounts would ensure transparency and help free milk producers from middlemen. Digital systems were being promoted in their interest. He also stressed the need to provide farmers with unique identification numbers to enable digital monitoring of milk quality, fat and SNF content, as well as payments.Choudhary said the Sudha brand, already well established in Bihar, would be developed into a national and international brand. Milk processing, product quality, modern technology and marketing systems were being strengthened towards this goal. He also highlighted women’s empowerment, saying their participation in animal husbandry and milk production was being increased.Dairy, fisheries and animal resources department secretary Shirshat Kapil Ashok gave a presentation on Comfed’s activities and expansion plans. He said a unit with a capacity of 20,000 litres per day had started operations in Tezpur, Assam. Plans were also in place for another 50,000-litre-per-day unit in Assam and a 10,000-litre-per-day unit in Kolkata.Ashok said the target was to establish a milk producers’ cooperative society in every village. Between April and September 2026, 4,804 new societies were formed, taking the number of active societies to 33,897. Daily milk collection stands at around 23 lakh kg, while the target for 2026-27 is 50 lakh litres a day.
