Milk retailers on Wednesday staged a sit in outside Karachi Press Club (KPC), demanding increase of Rs 30 per liter of milk as per their claims the retailers are incurring losses due to existing retail prices of Rs 85 per liter. Dairy farmers are of the view that Supreme Court has ruled to end the practice of administering hormones vaccine to buffalos and cows that has resulted in low production of milk.
Stake holders of milk farming industry including dairy farmers, wholesalers and milk retailers jointly protested to press the civic administration to review the existing milk prices in the city. "We demand the milk prices as per our cost of production," Haji Jameel, President All Karachi Fresh Milk Wholesalers' Welfare Association told this correspondent.
He said farmers could not afford to offer milk for sale on existing prices after hormones vaccine had been banned by the apex court. "Ban on vaccine has increased the cost of production and it is impossible to offer milk for sale on Rs 85 per liter," Haji Jameel said.
Mohammad Mushtaq, a milk retailer, said he is running short of milk supply at his shop due to the shortage of milk supply in the wholesale market. "I will switch over to another business if government fails to renegotiate prices with dairy farmers," Mushtaq said.
Sharing the statistics of milk consumption in the city, an official said that total consumption of fresh milk was 7.5 million litres daily that shows the profiteers are minting around Rs 3 billion a month through the recent increase. "The KMC officials are simply conducting raids on retailers' outlets and imposing fines," he said, adding that the wholesalers and dairy farmers are not being taken to the task for the unjustified increase.
"The government will negotiate with milk dealers to satisfy their demands and the ultimate looser will be the end consumer," a citizen lamented.