KARACHI, Sept 15: A Saturday meeting between the city government and milk sellers’ representatives has failed to reach a consensus on milk prices, Dawn has learnt.

According to reliable sources, the city government suggested a price of Rs32 per litre while milk sellers remained adamant on Rs38 per litre.

The meeting was held at the Civic Centre and chaired by DCO Javed Hanif. The exercise is being conducted under the directives of the Sindh High Court, which had ordered that a fair price be fixed for fresh and packaged milk.

A city government spokesperson told Dawn that the Rs32 per litre price that was calculated by the committee would now be submitted to the court, which would then come to a decision. The price would then be notified to all sellers and steps would be taken to ensure that the commodity was sold at that price only.

Meanwhile, city government officials continued to conduct raids against milk vendors selling the commodity at a higher price than that fixed by the government.

Sources said that earlier, the government’s price was Rs28 per litre but milk sellers approached the courts, which fixed the price at Rs32 per litre. However, they said, vendors across the city were generally selling the commodity at around Rs34 per litre, including milk shops located behind the DCO’s office in the Civic Centre, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14.

In connection with raids conducted between August 24 and September 15, the city government has imposed fines amounting to Rs900,000 and has sent 30 milk sellers to prison for overcharging.

Under the court directives, the city government had constituted a committee that undertook a survey of the various milk-producing areas in Landhi Cattle Colony, Korangi’s Bilal Cattle Colony, and other locations in the Thatta, Badin and Kotri districts.

Sources said that after completing all the surveys and calculations, the city government concluded that the cost of milk at dairy farms was Rs28 per litre, and stood at Rs30 per litre on the wholesale market. It then suggested a retail price of Rs32 per litre.

The cost of milk coming from the Thatta, Badin and Kotri districts was Rs18.36 per litre and the retail price in these areas was between Rs22 and Rs24 per litre.

However, the price of milk sold in tetra packs was not calculated by the city government, despite the pertinent court directives.