A video surfaced on social media where a group of farmers were seen dumping litres of milk on the road as a sign of protest in Maharashtra.
These were members of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathna, a farmers's organisation, who spilled the milk on the streets of Sangli. Their demand to the government is 'Rs 25 per litre as the minimum rate of cow milk, among other things.'
Many dairy Farmers have started an agitation in Sangli and Kolhapur districts of western Maharashtra on Tuesday over their various demands, including a hike in milk procurement prices. They are blaming the COVID-19 pandemic and the frequent lockdowns as the reason behind these demands.
The farmers body has also decided to intensify protests if their demands are not met.
The agitators along with members of the Raju Shetti- led Swambhimani Shetkari Sanghatana stopped milk tankers and emptied them on the Pune-Bengaluru highway passing the two districts.
Talking to PTI, Shetti said they are demanding an increase in milk procurement prices by Rs 5 per litre and the benefit to be directly deposited into the accounts of milk producers.
"We are also demanding an export subsidy of Rs 30 for milk producers and cancellation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on milk products," he said.
(Inputs from PTI)