The dairy associations are likely to sell milk at auctions in the open market, which will drive up the price for consumers. PHOTO: FILE
Karachi is once again likely to face an acute milk shortage as the dairy farmers' associations, unhappy with the government's officially capped milk price, have threatened to auction off milk in the open market.
A representative of the dairy and cattle farmers' association, Khawaja Amir told The Express Tribune that there was a shortage of 30 to 40 per cent due to the government's capped price. Due to the supply and demand gap, they have no choice but to auction off the milk in the open market.
Milk is auctioned twice a day and the last auction of the highest quality of milk was done on Wednesday evening at Rs3,200 per maund, he said, adding that it will be sold to consumers at Rs72 per litre. "But on Thursday morning, milk will be auctioned again and it can go up tp Rs4,000 or even more per maund," he feared. Ultimately, all the farmers will go to the auction, which can raise the prices of milk to above Rs100 per litre, he added.
Vicious cycle
Earlier, in September, the Dairy and Cattle Farmers Associations increased milk prices, without the government's consent. Milk sellers in the metropolis unilaterally raised the prices of milk and yoghurt by Rs10 per litre and Rs20 per kilogramme to Rs94 and Rs140, respectively. The farmers' association claimed that the last time the price was increased was in 2012 and the price of fodder had drastically increased since then.
Soon after the increase in the milk prices, Karachi commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui ordered a crackdown against milk sellers charging a higher price. However, the issue was resolved later by the formation of a committee to look into the milk prices and capping the price at Rs80 per litre, which was officially Rs70 per litre.
No meeting of the committee has been called as yet, said Amir, adding that every segment of the society has representation in the committee. "Even the Rangers have their representation and only one member of the dairy farmers association has been allowed to sit on the committee," he said, adding that despite this they will accept the committee's decision.
Meanwhile, Cattle Farmers Association Karachi president Haji Akhtar said that they had no choice but to auction off milk in the open market. However, he said he will accept the decision of the committee. "But until then, we will go to the open market," he said and was convinced that it will not increase the price of milk drastically.
On the other hand, the president of the Karachi Cattle Farmers Association, Haji Sikander, said they would wait for the committee's decision before auctioning off milk in the open market. "A few farmers may end up doing that before the committee's decision," he said, adding that their complaints were justified as farmers were facing huge losses due to the controlled prices of milk.
Siddiqui responded that a committee session has been called on Friday. Milk is an essential item and the government has the authority to fix the prices of essential items, he said. "Going for an auction is completely illegal," he said and gave assurances that the law will take its course if something like that happened.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2015.
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