House panel visits Visakha Dairy to probe into ‘irregularities’

Visakhapatnam: Members of the Special House Committee formed by the State government paid a visit to Sri Vijaya Visakha Milk Producers Company to check on the irregularities and other transactions of the management.

Led by committee chairman Jyothula Nehru, MLAs including Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu, Palla Srinivasa Rao, Bonda Uma Maheswara Rao, G Sirisha, among others, visited Visakha Dairy on Monday and sought details related to various aspects with the dairy officials.

The recently appointed Special House Committee visited Visakhapatnam for the first time on Monday to probe into the allegations against Visakha Dairy activities along with its financial affairs.

The members interacted with the company’s MD S V Ramana and directors. They inquired about various topics, including financial affairs of the dairy.

The committee members also sought details on the dairy’s hospital management, beds available for farmers, insurance and bonus payments.

They also focused on the recruitment process of employees, salaries, allowances, promotions and other protocols. Similarly, price of milk procurement, sale of dairy products in the outside market, tenders and contracts were also discussed during the meeting.

Later, the committee held a meeting with district officials of various departments focusing on issues related to the dairy at the Collectorate.

The officials of the departments involved in dairy management were asked for more details. The dairy MD, who attended the meeting, was questioned about the land details, trust, hospital, ice cream plants and the interference of relatives and family members of the dairy chairman in the company affairs.

During the meeting, District Collector M N Harendhira Prasad directed the MD to submit all documents, audit reports and details of court cases related to the dairy management to the committee.

Speaking on the occasion, TDP State president and committee member Palla Srinivasa Rao said that they would form a team of experts to find out the facts about the allegations made against Visakha Dairy and a report would be prepared.