On behalf of the Indian
Dairy Association and Organizing Committee of
the XXXVII Dairy Industry Conference, it is my
pleasure to welcome H. E. Bharat Ratna Dr.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. It is a very proud moment
for IDA members that Dr. Kalam is with us
today. We welcome you Sir, with all the
respects and from the bottom of our hearts.
We welcome, Shri. Digambarji Kamat, President
of today’s function and Hon’ble Chief Minister
of Goa. You are all aware that the State
Government of Goa is supporting this
Conference in a big way. Hon’ble Chief
Minister himself is the Patron-in-Chief of the
XXXVII Dairy Industry Conference, which is
going to deliberate upon the theme “Dairying
for Livelihood and Growth”. It is my pleasure
to welcome Hon’ble Shri Pratapsinghji Rane,
Speaker, Goa Legislative Assembly. Let me also
brief you that this beautiful campus is
maintained by the trust which is headed by
Shri. Rane. Shri Ravi Naikji, Hon’ble Minister
for Home and Cooperation, Govt. of Goa, is
always with us right from the 12th May 2008
when we landed here in search of venue for the
conference. He has been guiding us all through
and whatever you are seeing today is due to
his full support. We welcome you, Sir.
I would like to welcome Dr. Amrita Patel,
Chairperson, NDDB, the organization which has
changed the history of dairy development of
this country. She is following the same
traditions, same principles of working for the
poor farmers of the country. On behalf of all
dairymen of the country, Madam, I welcome you
for this august function.
Dr. Bhasin, President, IDA is always two
steps ahead than us. He has been a constant
source of inspiration to all of us. Many
times, especially, when we see him working so
hard and so long, we feel more encouraged.
Please, allow me to say that whatever we are
able to do, it is because of his able guidance
and inspiration which we derive from
time-to-time.
Ladies & Gentlemen, here are the luminaries
of dairy industry gathered from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari and from Puri to Porbandar. In
every way, you have contributed, you have been
contributing and I am sure that you will
continue to contribute for the upliftment of
the poor milk producers of the country. Why we
have been calling them poor milk producers?
Not in terms of their economic status but only
because of the circumstances and lack of
information and technology to them. We are
richer by experience, knowledge and
information than those people, that is why I
am saying so. Hence, it is our humble duty to
do whatever we can do sincerely and honestly
so that we may give a smile on their faces and
ultimately we get many more smiles back.
I won’t like to take much of your time but
I wish to give you a brief of this conference.
As you are aware, from 7th to 9th February
2002 we had a conference in Mumbai, where I
was chosen as a Secretary General. Now we have
tried again the same dates 7 to 9th February
for this conference, exactly after seven
years. Quite a few of you might be having good
memories of the Mumbai conference. I am sure,
many would carry the beautiful memories from
this wonderland-Goa, too.
Goa is known world over as a state for
tourists. In a humble way, in a very very
small way, we all at IDA, should think that
whatever we can contribute, we should
contribute to turn Goa as a place not only
famous for tourism but also for chocolates. We
feel that it should be like Switzerland of
India so that the people are attracted not
only due to its tourist places but for tasting
the chocolates.
Whatever the deliberations will take place
here, will be conveyed to the state of Goa
also. One of the major issues, we are going to
deliberate upon here, is about Dairy
Development in Goa. You have come here from
different developed States-Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP. You have got wonderful
milk production systems, processing systems,
packaging and marketing systems. But Goa is at
a very nascent stage in this field. So you
have to share your experiences here with the
farmers and processors and probably that will
be one of the best thanks giving to the host
state.
I hope you will enjoy your three-day stay
in Goa and you will also share your views and
experiences not only with the people of Goa
but also with all friends from the various
states of the country and overseas.
I welcome you all participants, the milk
producers, students, scientists,
technologists, press, media and others.
Thank You.
