Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Milk producers' seek arrears settlement

By Our Special Correspondent

SALEM April 6. The Tamil Nadu Milk Producers' Welfare Association has appealed to the Government to release immediately, the arrears due to the milk producers, and hold elections to the milk cooperative unions. The Association also urged the Government to implement the Model Cooperative Act.

According to M.G. Rajendran, general secretary of the association, the Government owed Rs. 100 crores to the milk producers or their cooperative societies. The payment for the supply of milk now took a minimum of 40 days to a maximum of 150 days.

In the district, the payment was being made in 80 days (it has now been reduced to 70 days), and the outstanding amount stood at Rs. 20 crores. For want of funds, the small and marginal farmers and farm hands, who had supplied milk, were put to great hardship, as they could not even feed their cattle.

Mr. Rajendran said it had wider economic implications too: most of the milk suppliers had obtained financial assistance from the banks, and owing to resources crunch, they could not repay their loans.

The value of stocks of milk products such as butter, ghee and milk powder with the milk federation could not exceed Rs. 55 crores. The stocks could not be immediately liquidated, as in the liberalised atmosphere, there seemed to be more demand for imported milk products, he said.

Moroever, if the stocks were stored for a long time, it would deteriorate.

Hence, the chances of disposing of the stocks and settling the claims were also remote.

Mr. Rajendran pointed out that even though the Government had enhanced the sale price of milk by Rs. 2 a litre (it pays only 50 paise to the supplier), neither the district unions nor the State Federation could turn around, giving a chance to the private players to enter the market in a big way, causing severe dent in the procurement of the unions and the federation.

As against the earlier daily procurement of 18.5 lakh litres, the Federation was procuring only 16.3 lakh litres, and the deficit had gone in favour of the private parties.

To tide over the situation, the association suggested that the Government could give a grant to the milk suppliers so as to sustain milk production.

It also called for the conduct of election to the milk cooperatives without any delay, and insisted that only the genuine members (who supply milk) should contest the election.

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