Maharashtra Farmers to Distribute Free Milk in Protest at Collector’s Office
Image Courtes: ANI
By distributing milk free of cost at district centres and taluk centres, the dairy farmers from across Maharashtra will launch a week-long protest on May 3 against the BJP-led government’s failure to intervene in the falling procurement prices of milk.
“We have to sell milk at Rs. 17 (per litre). We had demanded a base price of Rs. 50 per litre, but the government has fixed the procurement price at Rs. 27. We're running into losses. So, in protest, we'll distribute milk at the collector offices free of cost from May 3-9," said one of the farmers, at a rally which had taken place in Aurangabad on Monday.
“The farmers are suffering a loss of Rs. 10 against each litre of milk. So it is the responsibility of the government to intervene and ensure the procurement prices which have been set up by the government,” said Ajit Navale, Maharashtra state secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) – the farmers’ organisation, which led the Kisan Long March, earlier this year.
The farmers and farmers’ organisations have been continuously raising the issue of minimum support price (MSP) for milk. Fifty percent increase in the sum of paid-out cost or C2 was one of the key demands during the farmers’ 11-day long strike, which started on June 1, last year. The government had then announced a procurement price of Rs. 27 following discussions with the farmers.
Till August 2017, the farmers were given the procurement prices, which had been fixed by the government, by the dairies – both cooperate and private. However, the dairies have slashed the prices since.
Again, during the Kisan Long March, the government had assured the farmers that it would intervene in this matter within a period of one and a half months. However, the government’s promises haven’t materialised. Due to the government’s apathy towards the issues of the farmers, they have organised and gathered in their respective villages. The idea of distributing milk for free of cost as a method of protest was conceived in these village gatherings.
AIKS also plans to block the milk distribution to cities across the state including Mumbai, until their demands are met.
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