NPP’s flip-flop on Amul

The visit of the NPP delegation to the headquarters of Amul, the Indian dairy giant owned by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. early this month, became a contentious issue in the country due to the conflicting views expressed by the NPP leaders over the proposed joint venture between the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB), Amul, and another local partner, which will take over 31 dairy farms belonging to the NLDB. 

As part of the joint venture, the Indian partner is expected to manage the commercial aspects such as marketing and branding while the NLDB would be involved in setting up co-operatives, breeding, nutrition, etc.

Last October, the Presidential aspirant Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addressing a public rally in Mawanella, tried to invoke opposition to the said joint venture by erroneously terming the initiative as a sell-off to the Indian dairy giant. The collaborative program is expected to substantially increase milk production by 53% within the first five years, and ultimately achieve self-sufficiency in milk production within 15 years. Through this venture, around 200,000 local farmers are expected to receive support, including technical guidance. Amul is the world’s largest milk cooperative company as well as India’s largest FMCG brand with an annual turnover of $ 7.2 billion. Given its expertise and prowess in the dairy industry, Amul is well-equipped to develop Sri Lanka’s dairy industry.

In fact, numerous Indo-Sri Lanka commercial joint ventures have generated meaningful benefits to the economy. The joint venture between Kelani Tyres and CEAT India is a case in point, and currently CEAT Kelani Holdings manufactures nearly half of Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre requirements apart from exporting about 20% of its production to 16 countries in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East. Such joint ventures enable the recipient country to attract the much needed foreign direct investments as well as the technological knowhow.

In spite of the NPP’s opposition to the Indo-Lanka joint venture, their delegation visited Amul’s headquarters in Gujarat as part of the study tour to India. Subsequent to the visit, Gujarat-based cooperative through Twitter disclosed that there were some illuminating discussions about the proposed joint venture with the visiting Sri Lankan team. Further, the twitter post stated that the NPP representatives were looking forward to sustainable collaboration for dairy operations in the future. 

Paradoxically, while the NPP team was meeting the officials of Amul, the prominent NPP activist Namal Karunaratne was conducting the signing of a public petition in Kandy against the alleged plans to sell the NLDB’s farmlands to the renowned Indian cooperative. This apparent double talk prompted many to accuse the NPP of hypocrisy and double standards. Even after the visit to India, the NPP’s indecisiveness on the issue was evident when Dissanayake remarked that his party did not support investments by the renowned Indian dairy enterprise or the divestment of Sri Lanka Telecom to an Indian company while speaking at a rally in Anuradhapura. 

Critics have accused the NPP for lack of clarity over its economic policy. Over the last few years, the NPP was vehemently opposed to the participation of Indian firms in Public-Private Partnerships and power generation projects. Contradictory and confusing statements issued over economic policy matters by the NPP leaders only exacerbate the apprehensions and doubts held by certain sections of the society about their credentials to govern. 

Interestingly, the Daily FT contributor Dr. Ameer Ali in his column few weeks ago elaborated that the AKD-led coalition has to do a lot of homework on economy, education and foreign policy to convince the discerning voters. The country is going through a very critical time at the moment, and more than ever, Sri Lanka needs to be governed by a political outfit which is composed of experienced and accomplished individuals who have a strong proficiency in economic policy, diplomacy and other decisive elements of public administration.