Ramadoss, the founder of BAMA, has alleged that the private milk companies in Tamil Nadu have become too popular to control.
In a statement issued in this regard, he said, “Private companies have reduced the purchase price of milk across Tamil Nadu. Not only the price of milk is reduced, but also the quality of milk is reduced and the farmers are cheated by buying it at lower prices. It is reprehensible that the government not only ignores the scams of private milk companies that exploit farmers, but also supports them. Tamil Nadu is one of the highest milk producing states in India. Tamil Nadu produces 2.05 crore liters of milk every day.
Out of that, only the smallest quantity, i.e. 30 lakh liters of milk is procured by Tamil Nadu government owned company Aavin. The remaining 1.75 crore liters of milk are procured by private companies. Avin’s company has not increased its milk procurement volume in over a decade. Hence, farmers have to rely on private milk companies to sell their milk. Taking advantage of this, the private milk companies are exploiting the farmers as much as possible.
In Tamil Nadu, Aavin Milk Company buys a liter of cow milk at Rs.38 and buffalo milk at Rs.47. Most of the private companies were also procuring milk at almost the same price. However, in the last few weeks, private milk companies have significantly reduced the procurement price. At present, private companies are buying a liter of cow’s milk for a maximum of Rs.29 only. This is Rs 10 per liter less than the purchase price offered by Aawin. Apart from that, the private dairy companies have drastically reduced the amount of milk procurement.
Farmers are losing Rs 100 to Rs 500 per day as private companies have reduced the purchase price of milk. Apart from that, due to reduced milk procurement, many farmers are unable to sell the milk they produce and face huge losses. On the other hand, some frauds are committed in the milk quality testing machines and by understating the quality of the milk, they are offering a reduction of Rs.2 to Rs.3 per liter. In this way, private companies are scamming Rs.10 to Rs.12 per liter of milk. Due to this the loss to the farmers is very high.
It is the duty of the Tamil Nadu government to prevent this fraud by private companies. It is the primary responsibility of the government to inspect the equipment used by private companies for testing the quality of milk and correct any deficiencies. However, Tamil Nadu government is not doing this duty. This favors fraud by private companies and is highly detrimental to dairy farmers’ organizations.
Looking at this trend of the Tamil Nadu government, is the government supporting the exploitation of private companies? A doubt arises. It is the duty of the government to remove this doubt. But the truth is that they do not even think about fulfilling that duty. Private companies accumulate tens of crores of profit by buying milk at a lower price than the company and selling it at a higher price.
The government should not be amused by this looting of private milk companies. Such fun would be a betrayal of the farmers. It is the responsibility of the Tamil Nadu government to get a fair purchase price for the milk produced by farmers, to make milk available to the public at a fair price, and to prevent private companies from exploiting the farmers and the public. But the profit accounts of private milk companies show that the government has failed to fulfill this duty.
Private milk companies in Tamil Nadu have become uncontrollable. This shows the failure of the government. To change this situation, a Milk Sales Regulatory Commission should be set up in Tamil Nadu to prevent exploitation by private milk companies and to protect the rights of farmers and public. It should be ensured that milk is purchased from the farmers at the purchase price determined by the commission and milk is sold in the market to the public at the selling price,” he said.
