Sellers block road Milk dearer by Rs7 per litre

LAHORE, May 10: Scores of milksellers under the banner of Lahore Milk Sellers Association blocked Kutchery Chowk near Aiwan-i-Adl for a couple of hours in protest against the City District Government of Lahore for pressurising them to sell milk for Rs54 per litre.

The milksellers gathered at Kutchery Chowk and chanted slogans against the government`s apathy towards accepting their demands. Holding banners, they said the increasing inflation had forced them to sell milk at Rs65 per litre and yogurt at Rs70 per kg, but the officials were compelling them to sell milk at Rs54 and yogurt at Rs60.

However, after having a meeting with some CDGL officials and fixation of the milk price at Rs57, the milksellers endedtheir protest.

`Milksellers blocked Kutchery Chowk for four hours,` Tariq Zaman Khan, the personal staff officer to the DCO told Dawn. He said it was finalised in the meeting to fix milk price at Rs57 per litre. He said the yogurt rate couldn`t be settled as milksellers insisted on selling it at Rs70. `We have offered them to sell the yogurt at Rs64, but they have stuck to their demand,` he added.

The talks between the CDGL officials and representatives of milksellers remained inconclusive on Monday (May 7) as they (milksellers) refused to accept the government-proposed milk price of Rs54 per litre in a two-hour long meeting presided by Additional Collector (General) Mussarat Jabeen.
The CDGL side had offered the milkseller delegation to sell yogurt atRs61, but they wanted to sell it at Rs70.
Ms Jabeen had earlier told Dawn the CDGL had calculated and settled the price as per the increasing ratio of inflation and after reviewing the last year`s price and the present milk/yogurt price in the neighboring districts of Kasur, Sheikhupura and Gujranawala. She said the CDGL wanted to keep the prices of milk and yogurt on the level which was acceptable to both consumers and milksellers.