Milk retailers warn of strike if crackdown continues

The All Karachi Milk Retailer Welfare Association has threatened to go on strike and stop selling milk in September if crackdown on milk retailers is not stopped for selling milk at rates higher than the official price.

The association warned of going on strike during a press conference and protest outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Thursday. The association said milk retailers had written dozens of applications to the city administration regarding their production cost issues, but there had been no response. It stressed that the prices of milk were determined by the dairy farmers, not retailers.

It lamented that once the dairy farmers increased the prices of milk, the retailers also had to sell milk at higher rates, but the city administration took action against the retailers who were not responsible for the increase in milk price.

The association said the city administration only resorted to a crackdown against retailers and never tried to resolve the issue of price hike. The city administration, the retailers’ body said, imposed heavy fines on retailers, put them in jails and sealed their shops, but never took an iota of action against farmers who were truly responsible for the hike in milk prices.

Due to this, the association said, the farmers remained safe even after increasing the prices of milk and the retailers had to bear the brunt of the price hike.

The press conference was told that on July 1, 2023, the price of milk was increased by Rs20 and the general secretary of the Dairy Farmers Association, Shokat Mukhtar, announced that the milk price had been increased after the Karachi commissioner granted permission for that.

However, the association said, when the increase in milk price was transferred to the consumers through retailers, the city administration initiated a crackdown against retailers. The retailers said they had written dozens of letters to the commissioner and visited his office several times but no one paid any heed to their concerns.

They added that Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon had double standards as on the one hand, he endorsed the price hike by dairy farmers, but when the retail price of milk was increased, he ordered crackdown against retailers.

The association’s president, Hafiz Muhammad Nisar, said it was not possible for them to buy milk at a higher rate and sell it at cheaper price.

He stressed that the retailers had no option but to stop the sale of milk in September. “The people of Karachi will not be able to get milk,” he warned, stating that the retailers had been forced to take this extreme decision.