Farmers Movement Archive

Maharashtra’s dairy farmers to intensify agitation from today

Hitting out at the Centre for its decision to import milk products from the United States in return for exporting generic medicines there, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has called upon dairy farmers across Maharashtra to intensify the agitation from August 1, demanding higher milk prices and subsidies. On July 21, farmer outfits across the State including the Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS), AIKS, and Sadabhau Khot’s Rayat Shetkari Sanghatana had staged a symbolic, day-long ‘milk agitation’. While Dairy Development Minister Sunil Kedar had assured that the Maharashtra government would soon come up with a scheme to redress their grievances, AIKS has alleged that no concrete proposals have been forthcoming from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. “The MVA government seems to be apathetic towards the plight of dairy farmers. Hence, we have been left with no other alternative but to intensify the struggle from Saturday. Eleven other outfits along with AIKS will be agitating tomorrow. Preparations have already concluded in 23 districts of the State,” Ajit Nawale ofAIKS told The Hindu . The left-leaning outfit is expecting a robust response particularly in the districts of Nashik, Ahmednagar, and Thane. AIKS, as well as other outfits, have demanded that the State government give farmers a direct subsidy of Rs. 10 per litre of cow’s milk and that the Centre scrap its June 26 notification clearing imports of 10 lakh tonnes of milk powder at the expense of the unused stocks of the same lying in States all over the country. “The milk price [per litre of cow milk] before the lockdown was Rs. 35. That has come down to Rs. 17 per litre. The State must give a direct subsidy of Rs. 10 per litre to all milk producers so that their per litre price comes up to Rs. 30,” he said. Mr. Nawale further demanded that the Centre immediately rescind its decision to import milk and milk products from the U.S., given that several thousand tonnes of milk powder were lying unused in stocks in Maharashtra and elsewhere. “The Narendra Modi government’s move under U.S. pressure will destroy the livelihoods of dairy farmers all over India. It should not only roll back this decision but also grant an export subsidy of Rs. 50 per kg for the large stocks of milk powder that are lying in the godowns,” Mr. Nawale said. He said while the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government had earlier announced a scheme by which they had purchased 10 lakh litres of milk each day to give succour to dairy farmers, the initiative had benefited only a few big milk cooperatives. “The State’s initiative was limited to only 24% of the milk cooperatives while not helping the smaller milk farmers in any way,” Mr. Nawale said.

The Hindu

2020-08-01

Pune