Chandigarh, Mar 27 (PTI) Milkfed on Friday placed a general manager and two other officials of its dairy unit in Ludhiana under suspension with immediate effect after the Army had rejected the consignment of whole milk powder.
The Milkfed supplies whole milk powder, cheese, flavoured milk, tetra pack milk and other items to the Army.
Notably, the Army had rejected the consignment of whole milk powder of the Punjab government’s dairy cooperative, Milkfed, which sells its products under the Verka brand, after its samples were allegedly found not to comply with the prescribed standards.
Three separate orders of the suspension of the General Manager, Milk Union, Daljit Singh, Manager (Quality) at Milk Union, Guriqbal Singh and Manager Production Paritosh Mishra were issued by Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited (Milkfed)’s Managing Director, Rahul Gupta, on Friday.
The order states, “It has come to the notice of the management that the Indian Army has rejected two consignments of milk powder (58.338 metric tonnes and 66.654 metric tonnes) supplied by the Ludhiana District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd (referred to as Milk Union, Ludhiana) due to the presence of extraneous material in the samples. The same was intimated to the Milk Union vide letters dated February 12, 2026 and March 16, 2025, by the Army authorities”.
This apparent grave lapse in quality control compromises the credibility of the organisation and constitutes “major misconduct” under Rule 61.1 (m) (Neglect of work or negligence in the performance of duties) and Rule 61.1 (oo) (Act prejudicial to the organisation) of the Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Employees Service Rules 2023.
As disciplinary proceedings are contemplated, the responsible official holding the charge of General Manager, Milk Union, Ludhiana, Daljit Singh, is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect.
Similar suspension orders on the same ground have also been issued for the other two officials.
In a communication to the Ludhiana District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (Verka), the officer commanding the Army Service Corps in Jammu rejected around 125 metric tonnes of whole milk powder consignment comprising 58.338 MT and 66.654 MT.
A copy of the communication was also sent to the Chief Director of Purchase, Ministry of Defence.
Opposition parties’ leaders had slammed the AAP government on Thursday over the rejection of the consignment by the Army.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia attacked the Bhagwant Mann government over this issue and said the rejection of such a large quantity by the armed forces raises grave concerns over quality control in a state-run institution.
Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also called the rejection of the milk powder consignment by the Army a “major embarrassment” for the Bhagwant Mann government. PTI SUN VSD HIG HIG
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