After the milk farmers in Maharastra went on an indefinite strike on Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tried to salvage the situation and offered to listen to the grievances of the farmers.
These farmers are discontent with the fall in milk prices. They have put forward their demands which include a subsidy, increased procurement prices and GST waiver on butter and milk powder, as reported by Livemint.
The protest was called by farmers group Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and Maharastra Kisan Sabha. The farmers are demanding a subsidy of ₹5 per litre of milk.
Member of Parliament and President of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana Raju Shetti commented “The state government has fixed the procurement price of Rs 27 per litre but the farmers get barely Rs 17 per liter. We are demanding a direct subsidy of Rs 5 per litre to the farmers, as provided in Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. With a drop in the rates of skimmed milk powder, even the milk cooperatives are facing a tough time”.
To make their demands heard, the protestors blocked the tankers supplying milk to main cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and others.
The lack of supply of milk led to crisis in the cities. The farmers also wasted thousands of litres of milk by emptying the cans of milk on the roads.
The matter was discussed in the Legislative Assembly. The Government is ready to talk to the protestors and has ensured that people will be supplied milk.