Guwahati, Mar 8: Assam’s largest dairy cooperative, West Assam Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Limited (WAMUL), popularly known as Purabi Dairy, celebrated International Women’s Day at its plant and office in Guwahati on Tuesday in the presence of some of its women employees and women milk producers.

Women’s Day celebration at WAMUL this year emphasised on the “Power of W- Women of WAMUL”. The main objective of the Women’s Day programme, organised by Purabi Dairy, was to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of the women associated with WAMUL, who have come forward to #BreakTheBias, which is the theme of International Women’s Day 2022. It also served as a platform for exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences between the dairy farmers. The event also provided an exposure visit for the visitors to Purabi Dairy’s Milk Processing Plant.

The Chief Guests of the day were Livestock Entrepreneur (Piggery and Poultry) Runa Rafique and M.D. (O&G), Director at Gynaec Centre, Guwahati, Dr. Nilakshi Phukan Kumar. The women dairy farmers were given an opportunity to interact with these living examples of self-made successful women who have also inspired many others to achieve their dreams.

One of the chief guests, Runa Rafique, is associated with Women Poultry Farming and building clusters. She is currently leading two brands – Dhuwasang and Saraighat. On the other hand, Dr. Nilakshi Phukan Kumar has an experience of over 25 years and is currently practicing in Down Town Hospital, Guwahati. Dr. Kumar addressed the concerns on gynaecological issues of women since women’s health and well-being is one of the main concerns in today’s fast paced life.

The Managing Director of WAMUL, Satya Batra Bose while speaking at the event expressed how proud he was to celebrate the power of women at WAMUL. Women play a crucial role across all the operations of the brand right from dairy farmers to various departments of the company be it Procurement & Inputs, Human Resources, Purchase, Training & Development, Marketing, Veterinary Executive or the Liquid Milk Processing Plant. Women have made their contributions felt in every aspect of WAMUL which makes it the biggest milk cooperative of the region, he said.Out of more than 16,000 dairy farmers associated with WAMUL, a staggering 6800 are women dairy farmers. Also, out of 28 female employees at WAMUL, 18 of them are in leadership roles in various disciplines.

Testimony of women dairy farmers

At the celebration, the women of WAMUL shared their experiences while working with the brand and how it has created new avenues and uplifted their lives, to help maintain a better livelihood. Speaking about her experience of being associated with WAMUL, Nayanmoni Bharali said that she has always wanted to be financially independent while managing her household alongside her work. She started an animal farm in 2016 with one cow and then earned the knowledge and skills to help improve milk production through different training programmes organized by Purabi Dairy. To this date, they have 12 milk producing cows which yield 80-85 litres of milk daily. Nayanmoni also expressed her gratitude to Purabi Dairy for providing a market to sell her farm’s produce, giving them an annual turnover of around Rs. 10 lakhs. She expressed her pride in being a woman dairy farmer who is independent and educated.

Another milk farmer, Pranita Dutta, said that since her time with Purabi Dairy, it has given her a great boost of confidence in being able to take care of not just my her own expenses but those of her children as well. Pranita also said that all of it would not have been possible without education and strongly emphasized on the need to educate every female member of the family so that they can build a strong foundation for themselves and be financially independent in the future.