Maharashtra: Milk agitation by dairy farmers withdrawn after four days of protest

Farmers' leader and MP Raju Shetti announced the end of the agitation that was started to get the Maharashtra government to agree to hike milk-procurement prices.

New Delhi: Milk agitation by dairy farmers in Maharashtra was withdrawn on Thursday night after a meeting between the agitation leader Raju Shetti and CM Devendra Fadanavis concluded successfully. Farmers' leader and MP Raju Shetti announced the end of the agitation that had started to get the Maharashtra government to agree to hike milk-procurement prices. The farmers had been holding protests in parts of the state since Monday, seeking a hike of Rs 5 per litre in the procurement prices. The impact of the protest was felt particularly in Mumbai and Pune where milk supplies were partially affected. Though the protest did not create an acute shortage of milk, the agitation had intensified with families of dairy farmers also pitching in. "I am ready to withdraw the agitation if the milk-purchase rate is fixed around Rs 25 per litre," Shetti, leader of political party Swabhimani Paksha, had told reporters earlier. Earlier in the day, Shetti said his discussion with state Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan last night failed to resolve the issue. "A milk powder maker has enquired with me and is willing to purchase one lakh litres of milk daily at Rs 25 per litre. If he is ready to do the business then why the state is not keen on promoting such businessmen?" he had asked. The state's proposal to provide a subsidy of Rs 2-3 per litre will benefit dairies and milk powder makers, but there is no guarantee if they would pass it on to farmers, he added. Supporters of Shetti's party and members of his farmers' organisation, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, blocked the Kini toll booth on National Highway No. 4 near Kolhapur city today, prompting the police to divert some vehicular traffic to other routes. Protests also took place in Kolhapur's neighbouring Sangli district. The Sanghatana's Nanded district leader, Prahlad Ingole, said their demands were for farmers who are at the bottom of the economic hierarchy. The major milk-producing districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Ahmednagar and Nashik supply bulk of the stock to Mumbai and Pune. Some units in Thane and Palghar also supply milk to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. A vendor from suburban Goregaon said they were getting less number of milk pouches compared to any other normal day, but it did not cause a shortage yet. "If we can manage to get some tankers, the milk supply in the city would still be manageable," a distributor here said, adding that one tanker of milk could be stored for at least three days. Yesterday, Shetti had vowed to stop trains carrying milk to the state from Gujarat. A Western Railway official earlier said milk tankers would be attached to the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central passenger train to mitigate problems faced by consumers. (With inputs from PTI)