CHENNAI: Minister for Milk and Dairy Development T Mano Thangaraj on Monday dismissed claims that there is a decline in milk procurement at Aavin, low quantity of milk in sachets, and poor quality of plastic was being used for packaging. He said a few people not affiliated with the diary industry are spreading falsehoods to promote private brands.
“Aavin’s dairy milk procurement has reached 30 lakh litres. We are implementing various measures to increase it further. As on Monday, we are supplying 14.82 lakh litres of milk to Chennai,” he told the press. The minister clarified that the weight of a 500 ml Aavin sachet has not been reduced, and that the milk sachets are automatically filled using machines.
“Aavin compensates all franchise retail outlets (FROs) for damaged milk sachets in proportion to the quantity of milk supplied to them, as per the industry norms. Isolated instances of damaged milk packets are being used to spread false claims about the weight loss. We rigorously monitor the compensation requested by FROs for damaged milk,” said Thangaraj, noting that the micron level of plastic used for milk packaging has also not been reduced.
When asked about recent directives from Aavin officials in Vellore, Tirupattur, and Madurai districts regarding milk pricing adjustments, the minister said Aavin’s regional managers do not have authority to raise milk prices.
He also said milk prices have been standardised in a few district unions. Recently, the price of five litres of standardised milk supplied to commercial establishments was increased from Rs 210 to Rs 220. Regarding farmers’ request for increased procurement prices, Thangaraj said, “Since we started issuing on-the-spot procurement acknowledgments, milk procurement has increased. We are considering the request of farmers for a change in the methodology for assessing milk quality. A decision will be taken soon.”