Private players lowering milk procurement price, says Ramadoss; urges DMK govt to form regulatory panel

CHENNAI: Stating that private dairy companies in the state were exploiting dairy farmers by reducing milk procurement prices, PMK founder S Ramadoss urged the DMK government to create a regulatory authority to regulate milk procurement and sales in Tamil Nadu.

In a statement, the senior leader said that private companies are fleecing the farmers by downgrading the quality of milk and providing lower procurement prices.

“Tamil Nadu produces 2.05 crore litres of milk every day. But, Aavin procures only 30 lakh litres. The remaining milk is procured by private companies. Since Aavin failed to increase their procurement quantity over the last 10 years, farmers are depending on private companies,” he stated.

Aavin procures one litre of cow milk at Rs 38 and one litre of buffalo milk at Rs 47. Private companies also used to provide the same procurement price. But now they have reduced the price to Rs 29 per litre. Due to this, farmers are facing a loss of Rs 100 to Rs 500 every day, Ramadoss said.

Urging the state government to not remain a mute spectator to this, the PMK leader said, “To safeguard farmers and consumers, the government should set up a regulatory authority so that the authority can fix procurement prices and ensure fair market prices."