Malabar Milma faces action over financial irregularities

The Department of Dairy Development has launched an investigation into Malabar Regional Cooperative Milk Producers Union, commonly referred to as Malabar Milma, due to allegations of financial and administrative irregularities. The inspection conducted on September 18 revealed lapses such as the failure to submit annual reports and audited accounts on time, irregularities in financial transactions, and issues with milk procurement and storage.

An estimated loss of ₹27.45 lakh was attributed to the purchase of substandard milk from the Sampathrao Deshmukh Cooperative Milk Union, which was later mixed with 55,000 litres of milk from the Karnataka Milk Federation, resulting in 88,000 litres of milk being prepared for distribution. The milk was allegedly processed without undergoing required quality tests, leading to the loss.

The order also highlighted the failure to inspect the milk immediately upon its arrival at the dairy and the making of advance payments without proper quality checks. Additionally, the inspection raised concerns over ₹84.45 lakh worth of stock at the Malappuram dairy, with only ₹25 lakh reportedly spent from a ₹50 lakh grant sanctioned for the development of the dairy.

The department has directed officials to scrutinize the union’s financial transactions and records, examine stock records, verify the utilisation of grants and loans, and take appropriate action based on the findings. The managing committee of Malabar Milma faces potential disciplinary action for failing to prepare and submit statutory accounts and records for audit, as per provisions of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act.