BJP to send CM, cabinet milk polypacks to mark its protest

BJP to send CM, cabinet milk polypacks to mark its protest

Party demands higher procurement prices for milk to provide relief to stressed farmers

Dhaval KulkarniUpdated: Friday, July 17, 2020, 10:47 PM IST
article-image
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna activists during a demonstration demanding a subsidy of Rs 5 per litre milk, waiver of goods and services tax on butter and milk powder among others. PTI Photo |

Demanding higher procurement prices for milk to provide relief to stressed farmers, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will launch a state-wide protest with a difference. Unlike agitations where milk tankers are stopped and their contents emptied on the roads, they will distribute milk in old age homes and orphanages, worship cows and send milk polypacks to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his cabinet ministers.

The protest on August 1 will seek that milk producers be paid grants of at least Rs 10 per litre. Maharashtra’s milk production is estimated at around 3 crore liters daily, with an around 1.10 crore to 1.40 crore liters marketable surplus. Cow's milk forms around 70 per cent of the collections.

“The lockdown, closure of hotels and commercial establishments, and economic crisis, has pushed down demand for packaged milk by 30 per cent to 35 per cent and that of milk products by 10 per cent to 15 per cent,” said former agriculture minister and BJP farmers wing president Dr Anil Bonde.

He added that this had led to milk federations and dairies giving dairy farmers just around Rs 22 per liter of milk (with three units of fat and six units of solid not fats or SNF) as against the cost of production of Rs 27 to Rs 30, which pushed these farmers into losses.

Bonde said that they were seeking that farmers be given doles of Rs 10 per litre or the procurement price be fixed at a minimum of Rs 30.

“As part of our protest, we will hand over milk polypacks to tehsildars, asking them to send them to the CM, his son (environment minister Aaditya Thackeray) and other cabinet colleagues. We feel that cow milk is like amrit (nectar) and, hence, must not be wasted and expect that the government will give farmers their due,” he added.

Bonde said the protest would see milk being distributed to occupants of old age homes and orphanages. “This will be a unique agitation, and different from the ones by farmers' bodies, which see milk tankers being stopped and vandalised and their contents emptied on the roads. We treat cow milk as being holy… and, hence, cows will be worshipped by our workers and photographed,” he explained.

An official from a co-operative marketing federation said that while some of these bodies paid up to Rs 28 for a litre of cow milk, private dairies, who dominate the sector, often gave farmers rates between Rs 18 to 25 due to the slump in prices of milk powder. This was lower than the cost of production, which could be as high as Rs 35 per litre, depending on the prices of inputs. The state may have a daily surplus of 20 lakh litres of liquid milk and demand from the confectionary sector had also been hit, he added.

RECENT STORIES

MahaRERA Is The Only Regulator In India To Recover Compensation Of ₹125 Crore In Just 14 Months

MahaRERA Is The Only Regulator In India To Recover Compensation Of ₹125 Crore In Just 14 Months

Mumbai: Massive Fire Breaks Out At Vardaman Garment Shop In Malad East; No Casualties

Mumbai: Massive Fire Breaks Out At Vardaman Garment Shop In Malad East; No Casualties

Mumbai Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Shinde Sena Leader Meets Govinda In Juhu Amid Speculations Of...

Mumbai Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Shinde Sena Leader Meets Govinda In Juhu Amid Speculations Of...

Lok Sabha Election 2024: Shiv Sena UBT Candidate Amol Kirtikar Seeks Exemption From ED Appearance

Lok Sabha Election 2024: Shiv Sena UBT Candidate Amol Kirtikar Seeks Exemption From ED Appearance

Mumbai: Date For Demolition Of Sion Road Over Bridge Postponed Again

Mumbai: Date For Demolition Of Sion Road Over Bridge Postponed Again