Retired IAS officer T Nanda Kumar has been appointed as new chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), replacing Amrita Patel who has been holding the post for 15 years.
"The Central government appoints T Nanda Kumar as chairman of NDDB for a period of fiver years with effect from February 27 or until further orders, whichever is earlier," an official order said.
Kumar is currently a member of the National Disaster Management Authority. It was also Secretary in the Union Food and Agricultural Ministries during 2006-11.
Kumar will be the first person from the IAS background to head NDDB, which has its headquarters in Anand, Gujarat. Both 70 years old Patel and her predecessor Verghese Kurien have experience as dairy professionals.
It was in 1965, NDDB was set up by an Act of Parliament mainly to replicate the success of the Amul model, which was first developed by Kaira Co-operative Milk Producers Union in Gujarat, in other parts of the country.
Kumar's experience will come in handy for implementing the government's ambitious project of doubling India's milk production under the National Dairy Plan (NDP) a central scheme with an outlay of Rs 17,300 crore.
