Gujarat company’s ‘prasad’ in Kashi Vishwanath temple, local confectioners will kill flies
#News Bureau October 21,2024
A controversy has erupted in the city after a Gujarat company took control of the ‘Mahaprasad’ distributed to devotees at the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier, the famous peda or laddu of local confectioners was sold as prasad in this temple under local business. But now you will have to buy prasad of a Gujarat company from the temple campus. Recently, when local confectioners tried to sell their prasad, 7 people were arrested by the police. The temple trust has given strict instructions that only prasad of a Gujarat company will be sold inside the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The old confectionery shop has been demolished and now a counter of a Gujarat company has been opened there.
Banas Dairy, a part of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) which markets products under the Amul brand, has started production of ‘Mahaprasad’ at its newly established Banas Kashi Complex in Varanasi. The move marks a change in the preparation and distribution of ‘Tandul Laddu’, which is now sold at the temple’s prasad kiosks.
Traditionally, local confectioners of Banaras make the famous Banarasi ‘Laal Peda’, which is offered to Lord Shiva in the Kashi temple. But now Gujarat’s company Banas Dairy i.e. Amul has taken over it. Recently, while inaugurating it, Prime Minister Modi had said that those who visit Kashi temple in Banaras will now get pure prasad. But the confectioners who make Banarasi Lal Peda are feeling hurt. Banarasi Lal Peda was the source of livelihood for thousands of Banarasi confectioners and their workers, but Amul has not only snatched their business, but has also ruined it. Because their Peda can no longer be sold in the temple premises.
Before Amul took over, 5 local confectioners in Banaras used to produce and supply prasad for the temple. According to the Times of India report, each confectioner had 60-70 local male and female employees. One of these groups is Sunita Jaiswal of Bela Papad Self Help Group, who was recently praised by Yogi-Modi. Apart from them, the rest of the confectioners of Banaras were also earning their livelihood by selling Lal Peda around the temple.
When the Gujarat company was establishing itself in Banaras, the controversy of Tirupati temple prasad came to the fore. After that controversy, the tradition of prasad in the temples of Varanasi and Ayodhya was attacked. It is being told that after the Tirupati controversy, the Varanasi and Ayodhya temple trusts decided to take concrete steps to maintain the purity of the prasad in a meeting. The Gujarat company claimed that this prasad was prepared after “10 months of research”. However, Banas Dairy i.e. Amul had applied for the license to set up the plant after Modi became the PM in 2014.
Prasad became expensive: When the Gujarat company took complete control of the arrangements of Prasad in Kashi Vishwanath temple, it also increased the rates of Prasad. According to the report of Dainik Bhaskar, the earlier rate of 200 grams Laddu Prasad has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 120.
Karnataka’s Amul-Nandini disputeGujarat company Amul announced its entry into Karnataka market for supply of milk and curd on 5 April. At that time elections were being held in Karnataka. The opposition party of that time Congress raised this issue on a large scale. Congress leaders of Karnataka said that this will affect Karnataka’s milk product Nandini.
Congress and JDS targeted the ruling BJP at that time and said that the Rs 21,000 crore brand Nandini Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) will be out of the market. It is also possible that later the BJP government merges Nandini with Amul company. People of Karnataka have an emotional attachment with Nandini. Nandini’s milk products go to every house. Congress’s opposition had an impact. People also took to the streets to protest against bringing Amul to Karnataka.
It was alleged that BJP wants to merge 49-year-old KMC’s Nandini with Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) so that there can be ‘one nation, one Amul’ in the country. People also compared the price of Amul milk and Nandini milk. At that time, the price of one liter of Nandini toned milk was Rs 39, while the price of one liter of Amul milk was Rs 52.
Media reports say that wherever Amul entered, it harmed the milk production of that state. Maharashtra State Cooperative Milk Federation Limited, also known as Mahanand Dairy, is not doing well since Amul entered the market. Similarly, cooperative milk unions in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh did not get much profit. Haryana Vita is now unable to expand, while Amul has taken over the whole of Haryana.
