• Farmers, wholesalers agree to follow milk price fixed by commissioner
• Milk quality becomes major problem as adulteration goes unchecked

KARACHI: While the city administration on Tuesday fixed the official retail price of fresh milk at Rs170 per litre — a Rs50 jump from previous price of Rs120 a litre — milk sellers decided to sell the commodity at Rs180 per litre i.e. Rs20 less than the prevailing market rate of Rs200 per litre.

According to a notification issued by Karachi commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon, the retail price of fresh milk was fixed at Rs170 per litre, wholesale and farm prices were notified as Rs160 and Rs153 per litre, respectively.

President of the Dairy and Cattle Farmers Association Shakir Umar Gujjar told Dawn that the farmers would ensure that the milk was supplied to the wholesalers at the notified price.

He said that the retailers had rejected the officially notified price of the fresh milk and decided to sell the commodity at Rs180 a litre for the next 15 days as the administration had agreed to hold another round of talks with the stakeholders, including farmers, wholesalers and retailers.

He said that the retailers had rejected the officially notified price, but they were brought round by the representative associations of the stakeholders to sell milk at Rs180 per litre with assurance that the price would be revised by the administration after 15 days.

Mr Gujjar warned that the price of fresh milk was bound to increase up to Rs200 per litre in a month as prices of electricity, medicine, gas, livestock, fodder and other essential items were increasing day by day.

Representative of wholesalers’ association Jameel Umer Gujjar also said that they would follow the notified wholesale price of milk, i.e. Rs160 per litre.

On Sept 8, the retailers had unilaterally jacked up the price of fresh milk by Rs20 per litre in the city, triggering a strong protest by consumers across the city with some of the civil rights campaigners asking people to boycott the dairy products.

The matter after flashing on the mainstream and social media prompted the city administration to intervene and launch a crackdown on milk sellers selling milk at Rs200 per litre.

The administrative action included fines, sealing of shops and arrests of some milk sellers, which further aggravated the situation with a sharp decline in the quality of the commodity.

Commissioner Iqbal Memon told Dawn that the stakeholders had agreed at the price of Rs170 per litre after two-day deliberations in as many meetings on Monday and Tuesday.

He warned that strict action would be taken against those who sold the fresh milk on the price higher that the notified rate.

Meanwhile, people complained that the milk sellers were still charging price of their choice ranging from Rs180 to Rs200 in different localities across the city.

They said that the shopkeepers who were charging notified price were selling sub-standard and adulterated milk, while the normal quality milk was available at Rs200 per litre.

A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal said that the quality of milk had been compromised in his locality after the recent crackdown on profiteers. “Anybody can see the difference in the quality now,” he said adding that the consumers were at the losing end in any case.

A housewife called the offices of Dawn to complain about the quality of milk. “The milk now we are getting is of very poor quality and smelly,” she said and asked if the administration had any mechanism to check the quality of the product.

Last year, it may be recalled that the price of fresh milk was increased by Rs10 per litre from Rs130 on Nov 8, 2021 and after hue and cry by consumers the commissioner had fixed the retail rate of fresh milk at Rs120 per litre in December 2021, but the city administration had failed to enforce the officially notified price of the commodity since then.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2022