Milk deal, strike off; vote sealed

The Swabhimani Shetakari Sanghatana (SSS) has decided to call off the milk strike. The announcement came on the heels of the state government agreeing to give a minimum support price of Rs 25 per litre to dairy farmers with effect from July 21.

In a quid pro quo, SSS leader and Member of Parliament Raju Shetti will extend his support to Narendra Modi government and vote against the no-confidence motion moved by the TDP.

The announcement essentially means milk federations, cooperatives and private societies are now mandated to buy milk at the rate of Rs 25 per litre across the state. Then, they can claim Rs 5 per litre subsidy from the government. However, this subsidy will not be deposited in the account of milk producers, as the Sanghatana had been demanding.

The SSS was agitating over its concern that the dairy farmers do not get even half the price at which milk is sold in the retail market. Owing to the deadlock between milk producers and farmers, the latter were on strike for the last four days.

Incidentally, at the instance of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi has asked the Union agriculture ministry to fix a pan India minimum support price for milk.

Now, the ministry will consult all state governments, as any MSP fixed by it at the national level, will have to be implemented by them.

A note prepared by the ministry says the consumer pays between Rs 35 and Rs 42 a litre for milk, depending on quality and cream level, while the dairy farmers get between Rs 17 and Rs 20 a litre across the country. Their production cost comes to Rs 14-15 a litre.

The Maharashtra government had fixed a milk MSP of Rs 27 a litre in the wake of the farmers pouring thousands of litres of milk on roads, but it was never implemented as the farmers still get Rs 17 a litre.

The Maharashtra state government will review the new MSP after three months. It will not be applicable to pouched milk.