Farmers raise milk price again as govt fails to revise rate

Milk was sold at higher rates on Friday at various markets in the city after the Karachi commissioner failed to keep his promise to notify a revised price of milk on July 17 in accordance with the rate of inflation and the rise in the production cost. The commissioner is right now out of the country and the meeting to notify the new price of milk has been rescheduled for July 24.

He earlier held a meeting on July 11 with representatives of various associations involved in the trade of milk, after the associations of dairy farmers in the city had announced an increase in the milk rate all by themselves.

It had been decided in the meeting that milk would continue to be sold at its previous price in the city until July 17, after which a new price of milk would be notified. Since the date has passed, Shakir Umer, the chairperson of the Karachi Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association, one of the three dairy farmers’ associations of the city, told The News that they had already incurred huge losses by selling milk at the old notified rates until July 17.

“The date has passed and we were not invited to the Commissioner Office, as promised, to determine the new cost,” he said, adding that now they had no option left but to sell milk at a price Rs10 higher than the old price.

The other two dairy farmers’ associations of the city are Karachi Dairy Farmer Association and Dairy Farmer Association. All of them have jointly increased the wholesale rate of milk from Rs85 to Rs95 per litre.

The official retail rate of milk currently notified by the government is Rs94 per litre; however, in markets it is being sold between Rs100 and Rs110 per litre. Amjad Ali of the Milk Retailers Association said their two shopkeepers in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal had been fined for selling milk at higher rates and that is why they were trying not to flout the government’s rate. “We don’t have any other option now but to protest if the government doesn’t take up this matter by July 24,” he said and added that there could be a few retailers selling milk at higher rates.

Meanwhile, Milk Wholesaler Association’s Haji Rafiq said the farmers had started flouting the government’s rate after July 17 and the wholesalers had no option but to sell milk to retailers at higher rates.