NCP leaders protest outside Vidhan Sabha on Monday. (Express photo by Monica Chaturvedi) NCP leaders protest outside Vidhan Sabha on Monday. (Express photo by Monica Chaturvedi)

The Swabhiman Shetkari Sanghatana’s (SSS’s) statewide agitation demanding higher prices for milk procured from dairy farmers echoed in the Assembly on Monday, leading to disruptions and walkouts.

While disapproving of the agitation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the Assembly that the government was open for talks. “The government is ready to discuss the dairy milk farmers’ issue in the ongoing Monsoon Session. The government is always willing to provide help to tackle the problems faced by the dairy farmers.” “Last week, after consultations with Opposition leaders, we had offered a subsidy of Rs 50 per kg on export of milk powder. The Centre has provided export subsidy of 10 per cent…,” he added.

Farmers’ organisations are demanding a hike of Rs 5 per litre in milk procurement price, a demand supported by the Congress and NCP.

Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Congress’s Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil also demanded that subsidy to milk producers should be directly transferred to their accounts. However, Fadnavis said: “Only 40 per cent of the milk producers are registered with the body representing them. So, direct transfer (of subsidy amount) may lead to a kind of scam.” “The government has not adopted an egoistic view on any issue. But the way the current protest is going on, is not right,” he added.

Minister Chandrakant Patil said it was the bodies representing dairy farmers, and not the farmers, who have launched the protest. “The co-operative milk federations have stopped collecting milk from farmers. These federations are causing losses to farmers. It is not farmers who are throwing milk on the streets but these bodies which are doing so,” he told the House.

As the House met for the day, Vikhe-Patil demanded discussion on dairy farmers by setting aside all other listed business. While the members from the Congress and the NCP raised slogans against the government, Speaker Haribhau Bagade said he would ask the CM to convene a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issues raised. Not satisfied with the announcement, the Opposition staged a walk out.

The Congress and the NCP also accused the Shiv Sena of “hoodwinking” farmers. To this, Sena MoS for Water Conservation Vijay Shivtare said: “All the Opposition leaders, who own milk cooperatives, have long exploited dairy farmers by underpaying them to increase their profit margins.”

Accusing the government of being “anti-farmer” and “indifferent” to their plight, Opposition leaders, including Vikhe-Patil and Pawar, rung bells outside the House. Similar scenes were also witnessed in the Legislative Council where Dhananjay Munde of the NCP led the protest against the government.

The milk agitation has exposed the political one-upmanship among the Congress, the NCP and the SSS to consolidate their base among dairy milk farmers, specially in western Maharashtra.

An NCP leader from Pune district said: “From day 1, NCP has been at the forefront raising the issue. Last week, Fadnavis had convened an all-party meeting, where we discussed the challenges faced by milk cooperatives.”

Following the meeting, Fadnavis announced a subsidy of Rs 50 per kg on export of processed milk powder. “Since SSS chief and Kolhapur MP Raju Shetti, who is spearheading the protest, was not represented in the meeting, as his party doesn’t have any elected member in Assembly, he decided to launch a street agitation to scrore points,” said an insider.

In 2017, the state had made it mandatory for milk federations and cooperatives to pay Rs 27 per litre to farmers. However, this rule has been hardly followed. NCP’s Ajit Pawar said: “Not a single milk federation pays more than Rs 17 to 21 per litre to farmers.”

Dairy department statistics show that even Shetti, who owns a milk federation, does not pay Rs 27 per litre. “The amount of Rs 30 per litre is offered to farmers only if they conform to the fat content of 9.5 per cent,” said an official.

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