Dairy farmers reject milk price set by Karachi commissioner

KARACHI: Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association President Shakir Umar Gujjar on Thursday rejected the milk price set by Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon through a notification.

Shakir Gujjar said the Karachi commissioner had issued the notification without agreeing to the recommendations of stakeholders.

“This is the commissioner’s one-sided notification. We request him to withdraw the notification as it is not on merit. He should review it,” he said.

Read more: Milk price to jack up by dairy farmers’ up to Rs 178.60/LITRE

If Iqbal Memon did not review the notification then a peaceful protest was their right, said the farmers association president. “We will take our buffaloes to the streets and go to court,” he said.

According to the Karachi commissioner’s notification, milk price was fixed at Rs120 a litre. “The new price of milk has been set in consultation with farmers, wholesalers and retailers,” claimed the commissioner.

Disregarding the prices fixed by the local administration, dairy shops are selling milk at Rs140 a litre.

On November 22, the Sindh High Court was informed that the local administration was yet to finalise the price of fresh milk as negotiations were still underway despite a series of meetings between relevant stakeholders.

Read more: Fresh milk price yet to be decided, commissioner Karachi informs SHC

The Commissioner Karachi Office had been negotiating with all the stakeholders to finalise milk prices in the local limits of Karachi Division, a report submitted by an additional commissioner on behalf of the commissioner had stated.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh which was hearing a contempt of court application against the administration’s failure to arrest arbitrary hike in milk price.