Farmers’ association on agitation path against Govt. move to shut down Khammam Vijaya Dairy
Farmers' associations in Khammam have threatened an agitation against the alleged closure of Vijaya Dairy's packing operations. They claim the decision will burden the dairy financially, hurt farmers and benefit private dairies while demanding immediate restoration of local operations
Khammam: Farmers’ associations in the district are preparing to launch an agitation against the Congress government’s alleged move to shut down the Vijaya Dairy unit in Khammam.
Various farmers’ organisations and political parties had staged protests earlier over reports of the dairy’s closure. Confirming their fears, packing operations at the government-run Vijaya Dairy unit in Indira Nagar, Khammam city, were stopped a few days ago.
The milk collected is now being transported to Hyderabad for processing and packing before being brought back to Khammam for local distribution. The government’s decision is completely meaningless, Telangana Rythu Sangham district secretary Bonthu Rambabu and president Madineni Ramesh said.
Demanding the resumption of packing operations at Vijaya Dairy, the Sangham leaders said transporting milk to Hyderabad and bringing it back for local distribution would impose an unnecessary financial burden and was not in the interest of the dairy.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Rambabu said Khammam Vijaya Dairy had earlier procured between 25,000 and 30,000 litres of milk a day from about 50,000 farmers. However, procurement has now dropped to between 7,000 and 8,000 litres.
He alleged that officials were citing the fall in milk procurement as an excuse to shut down the dairy operations in Khammam. It was inappropriate for the government to deliberately plan the closure of Vijaya Dairy, which had successfully procured milk from farmers for the past 50 years, he said.
Rambabu questioned the rationale behind closing the dairy instead of analysing the reasons for the decline in procurement, studying the underlying issues and implementing corrective measures.
Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, who has been promoting Indira Dairy at Madhira, should have taken steps to revive Vijaya Dairy. Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao had also failed to find a solution to the crisis at Khammam Vijaya Dairy, he alleged.
Farmers were reportedly shifting to private dairies because the promised Rs 4-per-litre bonus had not been paid and milk bill payments, which were usually made every week, were being delayed by one or two months, Rambabu pointed out.
The Sangham leaders warned the government against any move to encroach upon Vijaya Dairy’s 10-acre land, alleging that rumours were circulating about a district Minister’s plan to lease the land to a private firm.
