The Covid-19 pandemic created distress across the globe but those trying times successfully milked entrepreneurship among residents of the far-flung village of Lower Marming in the Kurseong subdivision of Darjeeling district.

With dairy farmers finding it difficult to sell milk during the pandemic and many returning to the village from their workplaces causing further stress in the family, a group of people in Lower Marming, about 22km from Kurseong, decided on a new startup in 2021.

“Dairy farmers from our village who sell milk in Kurseong and Sonada were not finding any takers during the pandemic. Moreover, many members of families working outside were forced to return home creating financial stress. It was then that we decided to do something to salvage the situation for the farmers,” said Kamal Rasaily, a teacher at Mamring-Toryok Higher Secondary School.

The group of 10 people, mostly teachers of the school and other prominent residents of the village, pooled a sum of Rs 50,000 each.

With the funds, the team set up a packaging unit, a chiller and an analyser and started a collection centre in Lower Marming.

The group provided a twist to the business that ensured brand quality.

“We decided to pay the farmers a good price but that would depend on the quality of the milk supplied to us,” said Passang Sherpa, assistant headmaster of the school and a member of the group.

Milk is tested for the quantity of fat, sugar, and water and density.

Depending on the quality of the milk, the farmers are paid anything between Rs 40 and Rs 43 per litre. The testing is done on every litre of milk that is collected at the centre.

Parsan Khawash, a farmer, said earlier, he used to send milk to Kurseong town. “I used to get Rs 20 to Rs 22 per litre. Now I get more than Rs 40 per litre,” said Khawash.

With their model attracting farmers, the group decided to form a cooperative named Gounle Milk Processing Rural Entrepreneur Hub Industrial Cooperative Society Limited.

The packaged milk is sold under the brand name Gounle which in Nepali means villager.

A packet of Gounle milk

The society sells milk to the vendors at Rs 52 per litre and they in turn sell it for Rs 60 in the market.

“We currently collect 1,000 litres of milk from 78 farmers. Farmers who would supply us with just two litres in 2021 are now providing us with 10 litres. Those supplying five litres supply us with 20 litres now,” said Rasaily.

The Gounle milk is now sold in Kurseong, Sonada and Mungpoo.

Samir Chhetri, the chief of Sitong 2 gram panchayat, who was also in the group of 10 to start the initiative, supplies milk to the centre. “I have a cow and I earn around Rs 5,000 per month,” said Chhetri.

The society makes a payment of Rs 7 to Rs 8 lakh per month.

The society members, who do not take home profits, now provide interest-free loans to farmers to buy cows.

“The farmers can also keep their money with us. We give them money in times of need. They just need to make a phone call and we provide the amount to them immediately in the village, which is even more convenient,” said Rasaily.

The collection centre also added another packaging unit in the past two years. While the packaging unit costs Rs 8 lakh, the chilling units come for Rs 2.5 lakh. The cream separator and analyser come for Rs 75,000.

The centre also sells paneer at Rs 370 per kilogram and churpi, a milk product popular in this region, for Rs 770.