Commissioner gives in to dairy mafia’s pressure

Revises official price of milk upwards at Rs170 per litre

KARACHI:

Caving in to the pressure from the "dairy mafia", the Karachi Commissioner, Mohammad Iqbal Memon has agreed to an increase of Rs50 per litre in the price of milk which will now be sold for Rs170 per litre.

People have regretted the unjustifiable increase in the official milk price which, they say, is akin to adding insult to the injury because milk-sellers in the city have already been charging them Rs200 per litre.

Surprisingly, the commissioner did not take action against the "diary mafia" when it arbitrarily jacked up price from Rs140 to Rs200 per litre less than two weeks ago. Instead he buckled under pressure from the "diary mafia" within two days and agreed to Rs50 per liter increase in the official price of milk.

The commissioner issued the notification of the new official price on Wednesday, while dairy farmers and wholesalers informed the media a day earlier that the price is going to be increased officially.

According to the commissioner's notification, the official retail price of milk has been fixed at Rs170 per litre, while it will be available at dairy farms for Rs153 and for Rs160 per litre in wholesale.

The new rates will come into effect with immediate effect. The notification states that milk with a 6 per cent fat content will be considered pure. A faction of dairy farmers has, however, refused to accept the new official price of Rs170 per litre. Interestingly, milk is already being sold for Rs200 per litre across the city.