Milk shops sealed, DCFA president arrested

Local administration in a standoff with dairy farmers over milk price hike

Several milk shops were sealed, while the Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association (DCFA) president was arrested during operations against price-gouging in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Johar on Monday.

The local administration arrested DCFA president Shakir Umar Gujjar and sealed the shops as part of the operations carried out by assistant commissioner Muhammad Ali Gopang, on the directives of Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Ali Shallwani. Gopang maintained that the administration would not allow dairy sellers to raise milk prices arbitrarily, adding that those violating the set price list would be penalised.

Later in the day, after being released, Gujjar addressed Shallwani in a video statement, saying that dairy farmers would not lower the price of milk. Instead, he claimed, they would raise it by another Rs15 next month.

"You [Shallwani] cannot do anything about it. If you put any more pressure on us, we will block National Highway and Super Highway with our cattle," he warned.

The standoff comes days after cattle farmers raised the price of milk, complaining that the dairy supply chain had been disrupted.

In a statement on Thursday, Dairy Farmers Association Karachi General Secretary Shaukat Mukhtar had revealed that the city was facing 30 per cent shortage of milk supply because cattle markets were not being organised in Punjab and Sindh and farmers were therefore unable to buy animals.

On the other hand, people were staying at home due to the lockdown and the demand for milk had increased by 30 per cent in Karachi, leading to a cumulative shortfall of 60 per cent, he said. He added that the government had introduced relief packages for other sectors, but had failed to hold consultations with the dairy sector, which produces an essential commodity.

"Keeping all this in view, milk sellers were compelled to increase prices by Rs10 to Rs20 per litre," he said. "Prices can rise further if the situation remains the same, so we request the government to step in to aid the dairy industry."

Mukhtar pointed out that Shallwani's last notice about an increase in milk prices was issued two years ago, and was invalid under the present circumstances. "Things have changed considerably in these two years, but the dairy industry has not been permitted to raise prices," he lamented.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2020.