Milk price hike claim by KMF, MLA lambasts govt

Mangaluru: MLA from Mangaluru and deputy leader of the opposition in the state assembly UT Khader has berated the government for allowing the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to make a statement that it will effect a hike of Rs three per litre of milk in Karnataka.

Khader said there is no logic in the announcement as the milk farmer does not get anything out of the hike, and on the contrary, the consumer still will pay a hefty sum for every litre he buys. In the bargain, the KMF will earn over 30 crores per month and between now and the election the KMF will have earned at a rate of Rs. 3 crore per day multiplied by 120 days, which is Rs. 360 crores.

He asked he asked if the farmer is not getting the benefit and the consumer still pays, then where do the Rs. 360 crores go? Moreover, there was no provocation for the hike. Prices of all inputs in dairy farming are now stable, and the cost of production has also remained stable due to the measures taken by the Siddaramaiah government in 2016–2017 to stabilize the prices of the various inputs to dairy farming, which is why milk prices have remained stable.

Angry, yet composed Khader said KMF is a quasi-government organisation and cannot go against the interests of the people, and the KMF cannot feed its political bosses. Though Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced that he has deferred the milk price hike, "I feel it is a farce and the Chief Minister is only testing the waters before affecting the hike."

Khader said the BJP government in the state has been finding some other reason for hiking the cost of essential commodities, which is boring a hole in the pockets of the common people, which is very characteristic of the BJP government since 2018. He said common people are already leading a poor quality of life due to unemployment, and at this juncture, the government cannot hike the cost of essential commodities and make it worse for the people.

Khader has bared the government's intentions, and with his statement in the press conference, he blocked the way of the BJP's clandestine move to hike milk prices.