Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 30 (ANI): Defending the recent milk price hike approved by the Karnataka Cabinet, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has said that the increase of price by Rs 8 per litre is to protect dairy farmers from mounting financial losses. CM Shivakumar said that compared to other states, the milk price for consumers is still lower.
“There has been a demand to raise milk prices for the last couple of years. The milk price hike has been made to prevent losses to farmers,” said CM D K Shivakumar on Thursday.
Shivakumar responded to the media near a private hotel in the city. When asked about the Rs 8 increase in the price of Nandini milk in the cabinet meeting, he stated, “The government is helping farmers. Farmers are important to us.”
When asked whether the milk price hike would be a burden on the public, he questioned, “If there are farmers, we can drink milk. Otherwise, is it possible to drink milk? Our minister has already spoken about this, and there is nothing more to add,” he said.
“Prices of everything, including plastic packaging, diesel, and petrol, have increased. The transportation cost of milk has also gone up. There was a demand to increase the price by Rs 12 to 15. We made this decision after consulting with everyone,” he added.
Comparing the prices in other states, he said, “People pay Rs 30–35 for a litre of water. Compared to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the price of milk in our state is lower. Since the price was low here, milk was also being routed to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. That needed to be prevented.”
He said that there has been demand for a hike across party lines, saying that earlier a decision on the hike could not be taken due to elections.
“All MLAs had demanded a milk price hike across party lines in both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. A decision could not be taken earlier due to elections. Now that elections are over, the decision has been made,” he said.
On the proposed bus fare hike, CM Shivakumar said that the Transport Department will decide.
When asked about whether bus fares would be increased, he said, “The Transport Department has suffered heavy losses, and there were no funds even for diesel. The government is providing free bus travel for women. Therefore, the Transport Department itself has been asked to take a decision on this matter.”
Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said the state Cabinet had decided to increase milk prices by Rs 8 per litre, against a demand for a Rs 12 hike. (ANI)
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