Punjab Dairy Farmers Will Hold Protest on May 21

Dairy farmers, led by the Progressive Dairy Farmers' Association, have proposed a strike starting May 21 in protest of the government's refusal to address their concerns, including a Rs 7 per kg financial aid. 

The protests, the farmers said, will start from Punjab villages and then spread outwards.

The dairy farmers had high hopes and expectations from the current government, according to Daljit Singh Sadarpura, president of the Progressive Dairy Farmers Association (PDFA), who said in a press release issued here that the issues have not been resolved, particularly the increase in milk prices and demand for financial assistance of $7 per kg.

"Farmers have played a key part in developing dairy in Punjab and making the state a dairy-rich state of the country," he said, adding that milk prices have not been adjusted in full agreement with input costs for the past four years, putting the dairy industry in financial distress.

Many farmers have become defaulters as a result of the decline in milk prices during the epidemic, he continued, and the prices of cow feed have also increased, adding to their troubles.

While the current government is talking about crop diversification and fostering allied professions, the PDFA president believes the government could encourage allied dairy enterprises that are of interest to farmers.

On the model of other states, Sadarpura proposed that the state government offer financial aid to dairy producers.

"The state governments provide financial help to cooperative dairies in Haryana and Rajasthan at Rs 5 per kilo, Bengal at Rs 7 per kilo, and Uttarakhand and Telangana at Rs 4 per kilo," Sadarpura added.

On the same statement, he suggested that the Punjab government pay MILKFED so that the farmers' cooperatives affiliated with Punjab MILKFED can recover from their financial difficulties while still receiving economic advantages.