Farmers Movement Archive

Milk protests intensified in Kolhapur, Sangli

The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) chief Raju Shetti commenced the second day of protests against low milk price in the state by pouring milk over the Shiv Ling at a temple in Udgaon village in Kolhapur.Besides Udgaon, the protest was observed in multiple forms at Shirase, Dhamod, Koulav, Bargewadi, Bhopalewadi, Ghotawade, and Awali villages of Kolhapur in response to the protest started by Shetti.“We prayed to god to help milk traders out of this recession. We prayed to god to bless the Centre with the sense to suspend GST on dairy and products. We also prayed that the government cancels its decision to import 10,000 litres of skimmed milk. We hope the Maharashtra government takes the decision of giving help of Rs 5/litre directly to the accounts of milk traders,” said Shetti while speaking to media representatives.In Sangli district, protesters spilled milk from tankers along the Pune-Bengaluru highway as a mark of protest. The action was replicated by protesters in Shirase village and various other parts of Kolhapur and Sangli.When questioned about the spillage as a wasteful form of protest, Shetti put the onus on the protesters and justified the action.“What is waste really? A bottle of drinking water is Rs 20 per litre while milk, which is considered to be ambrosia among food, costs Rs 17 per litre - Rs 3 per litre less than water. That way, the rainwater - which is the purest form - that flows in gutters should also be considered as wastage of resource,” said Shetti.“At any point of time, the milk business is of no benefit to the farmer. It is hardly a source of livelihood. Milk prices has been a long-standing issue among farmers. The price, moreover, is not controlled by the farmer, but by the customer and the supply-demand. Fortunately, large-scale milk trade is highly organised compared to grains and vegetables. It is Rs 60,00,000 crore business. What ails the industry is a problem much deeper that demands long-term solutions like market intervention operation and not short-term solutions like providing subsidy. It is high-time the government takes up the issue else these protests will keep happening regularly. If the Gujarat government is giving Rs 160 lakh crore subsidy to one of the biggest players in the country like Amul, it is disappointing. For such a big and established organisation, why did the need for subsidy even arise? That is the question,” said DV Ghanekar, managing director of Gokul Dairy.Of the 10,81,000 litres supply of Gokul Dairy on a daily basis, 39,000 litres of milk could not be sent out due to various reasons including the protest. The tankers going to Mumbai and Pune were granted police protection, according to Ghanekar.“At any given point, there are 50 tankers in Mumbai, 50 on roads and 50 in the dairy. The ones on the roads have been given police protection,” said Ghanekar.On Monday, a group of political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Republican Party of India (Athawale) (RPI(A)), Shiv Sangram, among others and members of Ajit Navale-led All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) had also held protests in parts of Ahmednagar and Sangli on Monday. The members of Ajit Navale-led All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) had also held protests in parts of Ahmednagar and Sangli on Monday.According to a statement issued by the group of parties led by the BJP, on Monday, BJP Pune city chief Jagdish Mulik demanded Rs 10/litre as remuneration in the bank accounts of milk traders as against Rs 5/litre demanded by Shetti.When asked about the difference in the demand of two groups of protestors for direct benefit for the farmers, Mulik said, “We are asking for Rs 10/litre and Rs 50/kg of milk powder to be given directly to the farmers. I do not know about the others, but we have spoken to the farmers and stakeholders to come up with the figure. We have given them a time of 10 days to come up with ways to make it happen or else we will intensify our protest.” However, Mulik said that the party has not yet decided the mode of expressing intensity of their protest.The BJP members have warned of intensified protests on August 1 if their demands are not met by July 31, according to the statement.

Hindustan Times

21-07-2020

Pune