The state had announced a subsidy of Rs 5 per litre due to low procurement prices of milk (Representational image)
Lakhs of milk farmers in Maharashtra have not received subsidies because three dairies have failed to submit their bank details, the government claimed on Friday. State Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Mahadev Jankar, who was in Pune Friday, did not name the three dairies but said ultimatums have been issued to them to give farmers’ details.
The state had announced a subsidy of Rs 5 per litre due to low procurement prices of milk. This amount was to be directly credited into the bank accounts of farmers, and daires were asked to provide their bank details to dairy development commissioners. Dairies could avail of the subsidy for three months and this would cost the state exchequer as much as Rs 75 crore per month.
Jankar said 17 dairies, both private and cooperative, have submitted the details of farmers and the state government had transferred the subsidy to them. “Three diaries have failed to upload the data,” he said. Without the individual account details, the state government will not be able to provide the subsidy, he added. Till date, the state has paid Rs 106 crore to dairies to help them pay dairy farmers. Of this, Rs 53 crore was for production of skimmed milk powder (SMP) so as to reduce the glut in liquid milk, under a scheme announced earlier.
Dairies across the state had taken to slashing the procurement price of milk given the slump in international SMP prices. Thus farmers were being paid in the range of Rs 17-22 per litre for milk.
On Friday, Jankar also said that the 20th livestock census in Maharashtra will begin from October 2. The census will be conducted on tablets for the first time.