The State government on Tuesday decided to hike the procurement prices for cow milk and buffalo milk by Rs. 1.36 per litre and Rs. 0.80 per litre respectively.
The existing rates are Rs. 16.64 per litre for cow milk and Rs. 25.2 per litre for buffalo milk. After the revision, which would come into effect on Thursday, the rates would be Rs.18 and Rs.26.
The rates were previously revised in January. At that time, the government increased the per litre prices by Rs. 1.1 for cow milk and Rs. 2.2 for buffalo milk.
An official release stated that taking into account the interests of consumers, there would not be any increase in retail prices.
After nearly two-hour-long talks between a three-member committee of Ministers and representatives of a host of associations of milk producers at the Omandurar Government Complex, K. A. Sengottuvel, Tamil Nadu Milk Producers' Welfare Association, told reporters that those who took part in the negotiations had accepted the decision. The talks began at about 4 p.m. Around 5-30 p.m., the milk producers' representatives emerged from the meeting and told the reporters that the talks had failed. Subsequently, they were called in for another round of talks. The final announcement came after about one hour of discussion.
Ministers Arcot N. Veeraswami, K. Ponmudy and U. Mathivanan, Chief Secertary S. Malathi, Principal Secretary (Finance) K. Shanmugam and Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Secretary M.P. Nirmala represented the government, while K. Mohammed Ali, president of the Milk Producers' Association, S.R. Rajagopal, patron of the Milk Producers' Welfare Association, M.R. Sivasamy, president of the Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, and N.S. Palanisamy, former MLA and president of the Non-party Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, were among those who represented the milk producers.
