Maharashtra Milk Crisis: Diary owners oppose higher purchase price of milk

Mumbai: The state may be once again staring at a milk crisis as private milk dairies have opposed the state government’s move to hike milk procurement price to Rs 27 per litre. Consequently, with private milk dairies refusing to offer the revised procurement price to milk producing farmers, the farmers are now caught in a bind.

An official from the dairy development ministry said, “Already, milk producing farmers from Lakhganga village in Aurangabad district are dumping milk for free at milk procurement centres. To hasten matters further, the state government, in a bid to break the hegemony of the cooperative milk unions largely controlled by Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided to promote its own “Aarey” brand which has set panic among the private milk dairies.”

Mahadev Jankar, minister for dairy development said that he will promote Aarey as state-owned brand and threatened to shut down dairy businesses controlled by NCP and Congress leaders. The official said that the government keeping the interests of the milk producing farmers in mind had decided to hike the milk procurement price to Rs 27 per litre. However, with private milk dairies refusing to procure milk at the government-approved rate, farmers from Lakhganga village have been provoked to adopt a novel way of protesting to get the assured procurement price. They have now started dumping milk for free at the procurement centres. The issue for the milk producing farmers has compounded further with milk from Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana flooding the state.

Private players reeling under the impact of milk coming into the state from these states have now begun to demand hike in milk prices and imposing tax on milk being imported from other states. But the problem according to experts is that these private players are more into producing milk powder, which is in great demand in countries like China, Russia and other countries.

“The problem for the milk producing farmers is the rising costs of inputs like cattle feed, fodder, veterinary costs, transportation costs and low milk procurement prices are leading to decreasing income. The per day milk requirement in the state according to experts is about three crore litres, out of which the state produces only 75 lakh litres per day. The Radhakrishnan committee had in its report recommended doubling milk production by 2020,” said an official.

Maharashtra Kisan Sabha threatens to distribute free milk outside Mantralaya

The Kisan Sabha, a farmers’ organisation, has begun distributing free milk outside offices to draw the attention of the government to its demand for higher procurement prices. The organisation, which wants milk to be purchased at Rs 27 per litre by dairies and chilling plants, started the agitation in Aurangabad two days ago, a senior functionary said. Ajit Navale, general secretary of the Maharashtra State Kisan Sabha said that it had now decided to intensify its protest. “We plan to hold a similar agitation at the gates of the Mantralaya (state secretariat) if the state government refuses to address our demands. We want milk to be purchased by dairies and chilling plants at Rs 27 per litre,” Navale said. He said that the state, which had earlier announced a procurement rate of Rs 27, must enforce it since the buyers were not following it. “The current rates are causing losses to those involved in milk production,” Navale said.