KARACHI: City govt working on alternatives: Milk price row
By Aamir Shafaat Khan
KARACHI, Feb 5: The city government authorities plan to meet producers who supply milk in tetra packs. The objective is to check the frequent increase in prices and also get their point of view.
“We will meet tetra pack milk producers this week to discuss the price issue,” Executive District Officer Enterprise and Investment Promotion (E&IP), CDGK, Syed Hassan Naqvi told Dawn on Monday.
The government will not ask them to reduce prices in the meeting, but hear their point of view and try to find ways to get them to implement a price cut, he said. On the pattern of the price check in fresh milk, the city government wants to explore what action it can take to reduce prices of milk sold in tetra packs, he added.
A few years ago, there was a difference of only Rs2 to Rs3 per litre. Currently, tetra milk costs Rs14 per litre more due to frequent increase in prices by its producers during the last year in the absence of any official monitoring. It is to be seen how the city government handles the powerful tetra milk producers group which include multinational firms.
Mr Naqvi defended the government’s efforts to check prices, saying the prices would have exceeded Rs36 per litre if the city government had discontinued its price checking campaign after Ramazan. He said at every meeting, milk retailers had been warned of strict action if they resorted to creating in shortage or going on strike which they did on Sunday and failed. “We have not talked to the retailers. The strike automatically fizzled out since they could not sustain losses,” he added.
He said both dairy farmers and retailers had been clamoring that the cost of production had touched Rs38 per litre but facts at Lea Market, the hub of the wholesale trade are on the contrary. The government had monitored prices at Lea Market in the morning and evening. On Sunday, the rate had dropped to Rs800 per maund (40 litres) due to the strike. On Monday, the price was Rs850 per maund in the morning and Rs950 in the evening. He said this meant the wholesale rate was Rs25 per litre and not Rs32 as claimed by the retailers.
He dispelled the impression that the city government had made a deal with retailers which resulted in the strike being called off. Naqvi said he would call a meeting of the stakeholders in a day or two but the city government would not change the official retail rate of Rs28 per litre.
To a query that consumers were buying milk at Rs30 against Rs28 per litre, he said this may be so but it is available at Rs28 per litre in many areas.
President All Karachi Milk Retailers Welfare Association (AKMRFA), Hafiz M Nisar said the retailers strike on Sunday was to protest against wholesalers and dairy farmers who are not even willing to provide fresh milk to retailers at Rs32 per litre instead of the official wholesale rate of Rs26 per litre.
“Actually wholesalers (not retailers) suffered losses on Sunday when retailers refused to lift milk from them,” he added. Meanwhile, the city government continued its campaign against retailers on Monday for selling at Rs30 per litre, he added.
