Ahmedabad: Shri Dilip Rath, Managing Director of the National Dairy Development Board took over as Chairman of NDDB today. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Govt of India has given him additional charge of the post until the appointment of a regular incumbent.

He took premature retirement from the service (IAS) to join NDDB as Managing Director in 2011.Ever since joining as MD, NDDB, he has been instrumental in forging a strong connect with the dairy cooperatives and involved in implementing measures through National Dairy Plan (NDP) to enhance income of milk producers.

Shri Rath was closely involved in project conceptualization and formulation of NDP.As the Mission Director of NDP, he is actively pursuing the project objectives: 1. Increase productivity of milch animals and thereby increase milk production to meet the rapidly growing demand for milk and 2. Provide rural milk producers with greater access to the organised milk-processing sector.These objectives are being pursued through adoption of focused scientific and systematic processes in provision of technical inputs supported by appropriate policy and regulatory measures.

He has wide experience in dairy development and cooperatives. He was instrumental in implementing various schemes of the Central Government, viz., National Project on Cattle and Buffalo Breeding, Intensive Dairy Development Programme, Clean Milk Production, Assistance to Cooperatives, besides being the divisional head of 12 cattle development organizations under Central Government. He was chairman of the Delhi Milk Scheme’s management committee. He was also responsible for monitoring country’s milk situation in the context of inflation of essential commodities.

After receiving the Master’s degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Shri Rath went on to complete MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1979 and served in different capacities under the State Governments of West Bengal, Odisha and the Central Government.He was Joint Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Government of India from 2008 to 2010 and Director on the board of NDDB.

DeshGujarat