The three-day milk strike called by dairy farmers and livestock rearers in Haryana entered its second day on Friday with protesters demanding higher procurement prices, even as the agitation evoked a mixed response and milk supplies in several districts remained largely unaffected.
The protest being observed from October 1 to 3, is primarily focused on the demand for a procurement price of ₹ 80 per litre for cow milk and ₹ 100 per litre for buffalo milk. Tankers will now be dispatched before 10 am and allowed to enter the plant after 4 pm. According to Vita officials in Jind the plant was receiving around 1.36 lakh litres of milk daily as usual and there was no impact on the supply so far. Meanwhile, in the northern districts of the Kurukshetra-Karnal-Kaithal belt, the Vita officials said daily supplies remained around 13,000-14,000 litres. The strike is scheduled to continue through October 3.
The agitation continued outside the Sirsa Vita dairy plant, where protesters maintained their sit-in and reiterated their resolve to continue the bandh. They claimed that in the past five decades, livestock rearers had never been compelled to unite on such a scale and take to the streets to seek remunerative milk prices. The protesters are also demanding uniform fat-based procurement rates at Vita plants across Haryana. They allege that the fat rate offered at the Sirsa plant is lower than that in Ambala and some other districts, despite Vita milk and dairy products being sold at uniform prices across the state. The agitation has also been extended to supplies going from Haryana to neighbouring states Punjab and Rajasthan. The strike, so far, had limited impact in several other parts of the state. Minor fluctuations were attributed to some collection centres, while the impact of the strike was described as negligible.
Medicines, animal care and other inputs has risen sharply, making dairy farming increasingly difficult at the prevailing rates, according to the dairy farmers the cost of fodder. In Ambala, the officials said there was no shortage of milk in the market and consumers were receiving adequate supplies at normal prices. Vita officials, meanwhile, changed the movement schedule of milk tankers in Sirsa following the disruption on Thursday. On Thursday, a substantial quantity of milk was diverted to chilling centres during the day and brought to the plant later in the evening and at night.
At the village level, protesters are using public announcements from temples and gurdwaras to mobilise support. Some dairy committees have suspended milk collection and supply for three days, while farmers in several villages have reportedly stopped selling milk at existing rates. According to Mehta the plant normally receives around 78,000–80,000 litres of milk daily and received about 75,000 litres on Thursday. Farmer organisations, however, claimed their blockade caused a decline of around 30,000-35,000 litres in daily supplies. Farmer leaders have warned of a ₹ 51,000 penalty and seizure of vehicles for those found violating the strike by selling or transporting milk during the bandh.
Sirsa Vita plant chief executive officer (CEO) Dinesh Mehta told the media that milk procurement was continuing despite the disruption. They were diverted to chilling centres and brought in during the evening and night after the protest eased,” he said. “There were some difficulties on Thursday afternoon when vehicles could not reach the plant.
