Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) chief Raju Shetti on Friday criticised the ruling and Opposition parties in Maharashtra and the media for their disproportionate focus on the Sushant Singh Rajput case while dairy farmers in the State are going through a financial crisis.
Mr. Shetti urged the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to announce a ₹250 crore package and a subsidy of ₹5 per litre of milk to help the dairy farmers tide over the crisis.
“At a time when farmers are facing a life-and-death problem, there is an inordinate focus on the actor’s death. While he may have had many fans, it is unbecoming of leading politicians in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to centre their politics around this kind of celebrity circus,” he said.
The SSS staged an agitation in front of the Ahmednagar district collectorate on Thursday. Earlier, Mr. Shetti and his activists staged protests in Solapur and Osmanabad. Responding to reports that the SSS supporters had violated ‘safety regulations’, he said desperate dairy farmers had no option but to agitate on the streets to make their voices heard.
He said, “Farmers are dying any way, pandemic or no pandemic. During the protest in Ahmednagar, the brother of a dairy farmer came up to me and told me about his tragic suicide. How many farmers have taken this extreme step? We have been very restrained till now, hoping that the government will come up with some concrete solution. But as nothing has transpired, we have taken to the streets.”
On July 21, the SSS, along with other farmers’ outfits, had staged a day-long milk blockade. Following the protest, State Dairy Development Minister Sunil Kedar assured the protesters that the State government would soon come up with a financial aid package.
‘Vague promises’
Mr. Shetti said, “Since then, I have written time and again to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. I have also taken up this matter with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. However, for the past one month, we have received just vague promises.”
Mr. Shetti said the SSS will be staging protests in Satara on August 24 and in Baramati on August 27. He said of the State’s daily milk production of 119 lakh litres, around 52 lakh litres are in excess, and the price of milk powder has dipped from ₹330 per kg to ₹180 per kg.
He said, “Despite 1.5 lakh tonnes of milk powder lying unused in the country, of which 50,000 tonnes are produced by Maharashtra’s dairy farmers, the Centre has decided to import 10,000 tonnes of milk powder, thereby undercutting Indian dairy farmers. This is unacceptable.”
‘Left in the lurch’
Mr. Shetti said between April 6 and July 31, the State government purchased six crore litres of milk at ₹25 per litre. “This ‘subsidy’ of ₹150 crore has only benefited big dairy cooperatives owned by politicians like Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat. Such cooperatives only constitute 18% of the dairy farmers in the State. The remaining 82% are smaller farmers who are left in the lurch and forced to sell milk at ₹17 per litre,” he said.