In fact, before the Assembly polls in 2023, the then Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah stated that if Congress comes to power, it will increase the incentive to Rs 6 per litre.
The state government has not paid incentives to dairy farmers for more than nine months. The reason given is “no money”.
The government has to pay Rs 5 per litre of milk supplied by farmers under the Ksheeradhaare scheme. Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh admitted that farmers have not been paid their incentives for five months as a proposal in this regard is pending before the Finance Department.
There are 16 milk unions in the state.
On an average, they procure one crore litres of milk daily, making Karnataka a top state in dairy farming. The incentive scheme for dairy farmers was launched in 2008 with Rs 2 per litre. In 2013, it was increased to Rs 4 per litre and to Rs 5 per litre in 2016.
Though Congress was in favour of increasing it up to Rs 7, it did not happen. In fact, before the Assembly polls in 2023, the then Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah stated that if Congress comes to power, it will increase the incentive to Rs 6 per litre.
Venkatesh told the Assembly that from June 2024 to October 2024, farmers have not been paid and the amount payable to them is Rs 606.69 crore.
Milk procurement price has been reduced: Farmer
While dairy farmers from the Scheduled Caste community have to be paid Rs 6.85 crore for October, ST farmers are yet to receive Rs 9 crore for October and November 2024. He said it will be cleared in installments.
Farmers’ leader Kuruburu Shanthakumar told TNIE that apart from not paying incentives, farmers are given one rupee less per litre of milk procured. There are about 38 lakh dairy farmers in the state and more than 90% of them are women. “The state government speaks about women’s empowerment, but is silent on payment of incentives to them,’’ he said.
According to Shanthakumar, the incentives to be paid to dairy farmers amounted to over Rs 1,000 crore.
Lathamani Basavaraju, a dairy farmer, said she has not received any incentive for milk procured from her from February 2024. “Moreover, the milk procurement price has been reduced. I was getting Rs 34 per litre and now, I am being paid Rs 32.27. When we questioned, they stated that they don’t have money,’’ she added.
The government hiked the price in June, claiming that the quantity of milk in sachets has been increased. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the move stating that farmers will be benefitted by this. “Though the government has increased the milk price, the money collected is not being given to farmers,’’ said Lakshmavva, a dairy farmer from Ramanagara.
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