NASHIK: Due to frequent reduction in milk procurement price, milk farmers in the state are facing a financial crisis. In order to alleviate this uncertainty in the dairy business and to provide some relief to the milk producers, the milk producers will hold a three-day agitation from today, August 9 across the state. The process of making cabinet notes to protect milk through FRP is also underway.
The government should expedite this process, Farmers should be paid Rs 35 per liter for cow’s milk and Rs 60 per liter for buffalo milk. During the lockdown, milk companies bought milk from farmers at a rate of Rs. 20 as a result farmers had to bear a lot of losses. To reduce this loss to the farmers, a subsidy of Rs. 5 per liter should be given to the farmers who have sold milk during the lockdown period.
An anti-looting law should be enacted to curb the looting of milk producers by private and co-operative milk unions. Like the sugar business, the milk business should be given legal protection such as FRP for minimum support price and revenue sharing for the rightful share of income in processing and sales process. The policy of ‘One State, One Brand’ should be adopted to prevent undesirable brand war.
Strict enforcement of anti-adulteration laws should provide a legal guarantee that pure milk will be available to consumers at reasonable price. In order to stop financial looting of farmers by using faulty milk meters, it should be made mandatory for dairy organizations to use certified milk meters and appoint independent inspectors for inspection of milk meters. Animal insurance scheme should be started from government grant.
The milk producers demand that these demands should be accepted, agreed demands should be implemented and relief should be given to the milk producing farmers. Against the backdrop of an agitation by milk farmers over plummeting prices, state dairy development minister Sunil Kedar had said that government would look into demands for a fair and remunerative price for milk along the lines of sugarcane. Cane farmers are guaranteed a minimum price known as FRP.
“The state government will study this issue. Farmers have been suffering with the lack of demand and low prices for milk during lockdown,” he had assured. Dairies have slashed procurement price for milk over the last few months. Farmer groups have also been pushing for milk prices to be raised to Rs35/litre. The FRP for milk has been discussed several times but there are challenges to its implementation as very little milk is procured by government and bulk of trade is with private sector.
