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REVIEWS
limits, the rest comes from adjoining villages situated at a distance of 10 to 15 miles.
The larger collection of village produced milk is best with many problems. The
scattered production in the country-side, unhygenic conditions of production and
handling, use of unclean and assorted vessels at different stages, the natural handicap
to keep a perishable article like milk under tropical climates and the lack of suitable
transport, are some of the important factors to be reckoned with. Besides, milk
assembled for sale is not given any treatment to prolong the marketable life, except
for a very small quantity which is processed mainly by boiling. It is, therefore,
obvious why a larger portion of saleable milk is produced within the consuming
zone, notwithstanding the high cost and the evils inherent to it. As with the col-
lection and transport, the methods of distribution of milk are equally primitive,
variable and ill-organised. The root cause of this state of affairs, as the Report
has rigtly pointed out, is the fact that the milk trade is in the hands of 'petty dealers
with limited means and narrow outlook.'
Quality control is an integral part of the successful marketing of a commodity.
In this context, market milk holds a place of special significance, because in its
natural fresh condition, while it is a food par excellence, it is at the same time prone
to contamination by pathogenic organisms, and it can easily be adulterated. Under
the conditions prevalent in India, the importance of quality control of market
milk can not be over-emphasized. Unfortunately, although various types of milk
have been defined for legal purposes and their standards prescribed, there is as the
Report points out, certain fundamental defects in the prescription given by the
constituent States which now regulate the Food Adulteration Acts. Besides, the
enforcement of the Acts is rather feeble owing largely to the 'demand' outstripping
the 'supply' and the disorganised state of the trade. The Report, therefore, gives
a very comprehensive discussion on how the quality control measures could be
more rationally planned and in what way the Government in the Centre can coor-
dinate the effort by introducing an uniformly applicable piece of legislation for
all the Provinces and the States.
In the last chapter, the Report gives extensive information in the recent develop-
ments in the marketing of milk in urban areas and the efforts made by the Central
Government to formulate policies and plans for the satisfactory solution of the
urban milk problem. In this connection, attention has been specially drawn to
the 'Five-year Plan' prepared by the Dairy Development Adviser to the Government
of India for the guidance of the State Governments in dairy development work.
The Report also describes the success achieved in recent years by some of the Pro-
vincial Cooperative Departments in promoting production, collection and distribu-
tion of village produced milk for urban supply through Cooperative Milk Societies
and Unions. Although the Report does not contain the record of up-to-date
achievement of that landmark in Indian dairying known as 'Bombay Milk Plan',
it gives a fair outline of the genesis of the plan and the many facets of its conception.
The Report is supported by a mass of statistical data (in the appendix) and
a large number of maps, plates and diagrams. A useful summary is given at the
end, as also certain conclusions and recommendations as a result of the compre-
hensive survey. (K.C.S.)
MGIPC—M— 15 AR—9 5-52—850.