State sugar cooperatives are all set to get a professional touch. state cooperatives minister Harshawardhan Patil said the industry needs to be professionally managed and has therefore mooted the formation of a panel that would look into the creation of skilled manpower for the industry. The state envisages creating about 250 head of departments (HODs) for the Rs 20,000-crore sugar sector in the state.
?There are plans to form a scheme to ensure that sugar cooperatives are managed well and induct educated management professionals into the field to bring in the concept of trained manpower,? he said. If all goes well sugar cooperatives will be professionally run marketing departments that would not only provide necessary inputs on the domestic market but would help generate higher revenues. A report on the panel is expected in the next couple of months, he said.
When contacted officials in the sugar commissionerate said that the report was entrusted to a former sugar commissioner and was still awaited. Work on the panel will move ahead only after this report comes in, the official said. Every sugar mill is supposed to have one HOD who would oversee all the functions, he said.