Chennai: Effective Monday, a litre of Aavin milk will be dearer by six rupees. The price rise has been necessitated by the commitment to ensure high-quality milk to the consumers while meeting the long-standing demand of the dairy farmers for hike in procurement prices, according to a government release on Saturday.
The release said the farmers have been repeatedly asking for hike in the milk procurement prices paid to them by the government as the cost of their various inputs, such as cattle feed, has gone up over the last four years. "Considering that milk production is an important and integral part of overall rural development and the 4.6 lakh dairy farmers must be helped, the government has decided to increase the prices of procurement of cow milk from Rs 28 to Rs 32 and that of buffalo milk from Rs 35 to Rs 41 per litre. That would mean an increase of four rupees a litre for procuring cow milk and six rupees a litre for buffalo milk”, it said.
The government also said it was keen on ensuring uninterrupted supply of good quality milk to the consumers and also improve the maintenance of the milk cooperatives and refrigeration facilities, apart from meeting the increased administrative expenses.
Taking into consideration all these factors, it has been decided to increase the cost of Aavin milk by six rupees a litre, it said.
It said the price hike will come into effect from Monday (August 19).
DMK president and leader of Opposition M K Stalin has slammed the hike as a “huge burden” for the poor and middle-class families. “The government says the hike is to ensure that the consumer gets good quality milk. But then, isn't it the duty of the government to make sure that good milk is reached to the consumer. The AIADMK government has failed in its duty and increased the burden for the citizen”, Stalin tweeted.
His sister and party Lok Sabha member Kanimozhi too took to her twitter handle to criticise the Aavin hike and demand its withdrawal. The price increase “will very much hurt the people”, said her tweet in Tamil.
The twitteratti quickly responded asking her to also take into account the increase in the procurement price paid to the poor farmers.
