PONDA: The dairy farmers suspect that the purchase price of milk was hiked to cause loss to Goa Dairy in the long run. They suspect that hiking the purchase price was a conspiracy.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, dairy farmers led by Anup Priolkar said that the farmers are happy that their demand for hike in milk price has been met by Goa Dairy.
The farmers said that though they welcome the price hike, but they are not in favour of a hike which, in the long run, would cause loss to Goa Dairy.
“We are in a tight spot as we never expected a hasty decision from the Board of Directors without studying its financial implication on Goa Dairy,” Priolkar said.
“We don’t want a price hike that would burden Goa Dairy as it would affect our own interest in the long run,” he said.
In fact, recently, Priolkar had launched a fast unto death agitation in front of Goa Dairy gates demanding hike in purchase of milk and removal of its managing director for “misappropriating funds.”
Though the purchase price has been hiked only by Rs 2, the farmers would actually get Rs 3 to Rs 4.50 per litre depending on the percentage of fats in the milk supplied by them.
“This is a good decision for farmers. But the burden of this hike on Goa Dairy is Rs 1.5 lakh per day. And in the long run, Goa Dairy may suffer huge losses on account this decisions. We don’t want Goa Dairy to run into losses. So, the government should examine this decision,” Priolkar said.
The farmers suspect that someone who wants Goa Dairy to run into loss influenced the decision to hike the purchase price. “If Goa Dairy suffers losses on account of hike in purchase price, the farmers and the employees will lose their livelihood,” Priolkar warned.
“We want a clarification whether the decision was taken considering financial implication and expert advice. If it is affordable to hike the purchase price, then, the Government and Goa Dairy should clear our doubt. If it not affordable, then, it might be the conspiracy of Goa Dairy MD who has taken the decision two days before his retirement, to push Goa Dairy into financial crisis,” Priolkar said.
“He might want to prove that without his service, Goa Dairy is going to suffer losses. So, the government should study the decision of milk price hike, so that it does not meet the same fate of Sanjeevani Sugar Factory,” he said.
