The Milk Dealers Welfare Association wants the government to call the dealers for a dialogue to address the issue of adulteration.
The association, which met here on Sunday, has sought government support to form a four-member committee to inspect milk production units.
The meeting was held following a Supreme Court’s decision to take stringent action against milk producers and distributors for adulteration.
The State consumes around 1.5 crore litres of milk. While Aavin produces around 25 lakh litres, private companies provide the rest of it.
A national survey on milk adulteration done two years ago found that an estimated 12 per cent of milk sold in the State does not conform to parameters set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
Association president S.A. Ponnusamy said, “It is difficult for each dealer to ensure the quality of milk we sell. Dealers must pay Rs. 5,000 for each sample for the tests and only King Institute, Guindy does the tests. Since each producer offers at least four varieties of milk, we could end up paying Rs. 20,000 for these tests.”
At present, milk samples are taken for testing from the dealers’ end by officials of Food Safety and Aavin.
“We never know the result of these tests as officials inform the company who are expected to set right the anomaly. Since the court has said that we would also be punishable, we suggest that the committee include an IAS officer, a representative from the milk producers’ federation, a citizen and a member of our association,” Mr. Ponnusamy added.
