Maharashtra farmers' bodies demand subsidy on milk
Jul 31, 2020
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 31 : The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the Milk Producing Peasants Struggle Committee have demanded that the state government should give Rs 10 per litre subsidy to all milk producers and they have given a call to intensify the state-wide struggle for their demands from Saturday.
"The state government must give a direct subsidy of Rs 10 per litre to all milk producers so that they get the price of Rs 30 per litre that they were getting before the lockdown. The price that farmers are getting now has collapsed to Rs 17. Meanwhile, milk is continuing to be sold to consumers at Rs 48 per litre," AIKS said in a release.
"The central government must immediately take back the June 26 notification clearing imports of 10 lakh tonnes of milk powder, which will destroy the lives of dairy farmers all over India," it added.
AIKS said that the central govt must immediately rescind its decision to import milk and milk products from the USA in return for export of generic medicines to that country.
"An export subsidy of Rs 50 per kg must be given for the large stocks of milk powder that are lying in the country's godowns," it further demanded.
The scheme earlier announced by the state government of buying 10 lakh litres of milk per day was limited to only about 24 per cent of the milk companies and thus failed to benefit farmers, AIKS added.
