Milk price hiked by Rs10/litre in Karachi, other areas

KARACHI: Like other parts of the country, dairy farmers of the port city have increased the price of milk by Rs10 per litre.
According to details, the Cattle and Dairy Farms Association has announced the hike which increased the price of milk to Rs140 per litre. The association said that the hike was necessary due to rising operational expenses.
“Among other costs, food for our animals has increased. The price of fuel and seed is also up. We are not immune to inflation,” it said. It said the reason this increase has come as necessary, right now, is the reality of at least trying to cover some of those costs.
The dairy farmers have announced the hike unilaterally without the consent of the government. The hike was announced despite the fact that Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon has constituted a body to fix the price of milk in the city.
Dairy farmers also backtracked on their commitment to keep milk prices unchanged until the committee completes its task.
The committee has been tasked to assess the production cost of milk, including the animal, management, transportation and feeding besides determining the per litre estimated cost of milk at farm, middlemen and retailer levels. It is to furnish a report in a week.
Similarly, the same hike in milk price has been reported from Islamabad and Punjab areas.
Last month, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had directed the Karachi commissioner and other officials to prepare reports on steps taken to control rising milk prices in the port city. The Sindh Food Authority (SFA) and the commissioner office submitted their written comments in the court. Assistant Commissioner Ijaz Rind informed that a meeting of all stakeholders had taken place. He said that the administration will fix the milk prices soon. – TLTP