Maharashtra: A Month After Key Stakeholders Meet, No Solution for Milk Producers from MVA Govt.

Maharashtra's milk-producing farmers face a crisis with the Maha Vikas Aghadi government failing to come up with a solution to their problems so far.

Rates of milk have fallen due to economic implications of the lockdown brought about by COVID-19. In addition, the MVA government continues to neglect the issue, despite protests in ten districts of the milk-belt. Even after a meeting with all the stakeholders in July, the MVA government has not come up with a solution for a problem which affects 47 lakh farmers across the state.

Maharashtra is second-largest milk producing state in India, with 116 lakh metric tonnes of milk collected in the state everyday. Prior to the lockdown, the rate of milk between Rs 27 to Rs 32 a litre. However, it collapsed to Rs 17 during the lockdown and has not recovered since. Farmers’ bodies, including the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), have protested against the fall in prices over the last two weeks.

The drop in price also hurt the milk powder business. Many private dairies could not sell milk during the lockdown – so they made powder out of it. Stocks of milk powder have gone up to almost 70 thousand metric tonnes in Maharashtra alone. This caused a crash in prices of powder, and as a result, in milk prices.

Dairy is a secondary business for 47 lakh farmers in Maharashtra, as per the state’s dairy development ministry. To help these farmers and bring their business back on track, the state government held a meeting with farmers organisations, dairy owners and experts on July 21. It was expected that the government would come up with a solution. However, that has not happened. At the time, the government had assured that it would come up with solution within a week, but a month has passed since.

The AIKS, which led the statewide agitation, has demanded that Rs 30 per litre is set as the cost price for milk, and a direct subsidy of Rs 10 into farmers’ accounts. It also demanded an increase of the government's milk powder stock, so that farmers can get relief. However, the state government hasn't accepted their demands yet.

“We are being told by the state’s dairy development ministry that a decision milk will be taken in the next cabinet meeting which is expected to take place in the last week of August. We are waiting for it. If the government fails to keep its word, it will have to face protests across state," said AIKS President Dr. Ashok Dhawale.

The government’s delay in taking a call is hurting milk producers by the day. A back of the envelope calculation would suggest that a ten rupee loss per litre amounts to losses of Rs 12 crore on a daily basis. Given that the situation has persisted since April, it could mean a loss of Rs 1,450 crores for farmers in Maharashtra over the past five months.