A seven-member delegation of the Odisha Milk Farmers Association met Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy on Wednesday and urged upon him to check distress sale of milk. They expressed concern that due to the ongoing crisis in the milk procurement sector, about 2. 77 lakh milk farmer families’ livelihood is at stake.
Notably, farmers across the State are protesting the Omfed’s decision to slash milk procurement by 31 per cent. They are pouring milk on street to register their agony against the anti-farmer decision in Jagtashingpur, Puri, Baragarh and Bhubaneswar.
The association submitted a five-point charter of demands including steps to stop distress sale of milk by including milk and milk products in MDM and ICDS schemes, direction to all Government and private hospitals and MCHs to purchase Omfed milk for their patients, Rs 30 as Minimum Support Price (MSP) per litre of milk, loan at 2 per cent interest to milk, poultry and fish farmers, Rs 200 per day minimum wage for 5,049 primary milk co-operative society secretaries and insurance of Rs 1lakh for each cow and buffalo, besides health insurance for milk farmers. The Minister after listening to the demands directed Omfed MD Madhusudan Padhi to send a proposal to the Chief Secretary for necessary action by the Government. He also assured the representatives that very soon a high level meeting will be held to take a positive step on the demands.
The delegation led by association chairman and Samajwadi Party State president Rabi Behera included Mahasangha vice-chairman Dushasan Mohapatra, secretary Narayan Dalua, Gouranga Rout, Chittaranjan Mantri, Anusuya Swain and Pradeep Mishra.