There were signs of a breakthrough in the ongoing impasse over the agitation by dairy farmers with water resources minister Girish Mahajan reaching out to farmer leader and Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti.
There were signs of a breakthrough in the ongoing impasse over the agitation by dairy farmers with water resources minister Girish Mahajan reaching out to farmer leader and Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti.
The meeting between the two took place at a state government guest house near the airport on Wednesday midnight. Mahajan spoke to Shetti about the demands by dairy farmers who have launched an indefinite blockade of milk supplies from Monday under the banner of his Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) and said would communicate these to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“At least the government is ready for talks. I am waiting to be called to Nagpur for negotiations,” said Shetti, while speaking to reporters. The state government is scheduled to hold a meeting with dairies and federations on Thursday later in the day at Nagpur where the state legislature is holding its monsoon session.
Shetti was firm in his demand that the state government provide a direct subsidy of Rs 5 per litre to dairy farmers who are facing economic distress after being compelled to sell milk at rates lesser than the cost of production to dairies and milk federations. The Lok Sabha MP from Hatkanangale in Kolhapur said he was seeking around Rs 27 per litre. While the state government claims a direct subsidy transfer to farmers is not possible due to private dairies dominating the market and lack of validated records of milk purchased, Shetti insisted this was possible.
He added that private milk dairies paid farmers through electronic transfers and also transferred monies as festive bonus to their bank accounts. “If this will take time, we are willing to concede it to the government,” said Shetti, while calling on his activists to conduct the chakka jam agitation across the state on Thursday in a peaceful manner.
However, the milk blockade agitation will continue till a solution was evolved.
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