The owners of vans that supply Karnataka’s ‘Nandini’ milk to retail outlets across Bengaluru have been on strike since Friday, 20 January. As many as 250 contracted transporters from Bengaluru Milk Union Limited (BAMUL) stopped supplying milk since Friday afternoon.
Why? They are demanding a revision of payments and protesting against the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), the second largest dairy cooperative in the country.
What happened before this? In November 2022, the KMF had also announced a Rs 2 per litre increase in prices of all variants of packaged milk and curd sold under the brand name 'Nandini.' And just days ago, the hashtag #SaveNandini trended in Karnataka.
So, what’s ailing the dairy cooperative? Why the hashtag? We answer.
Why are van owners protesting? As per a new KMF rule, van owners are now required to pay an "exorbitant" fine for damages to milk packets during transit, Deccan Herald reported.
GR Shanmugappa, president of the Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents' Association, said that KMF wants van owners to pay the price of 10 packets for every damaged packet.
What's BAMUL rebuttal? BAMUL Chairperson Narasimha Murthy, however, pointed out that the vendors have been asking the union to extend their contracts without participating in the annual tender process. "Despite giving them a 10 percent hike, they are irregular at work," he said.
Why the hashtag #SaveNandini? On 30 December 2022 , Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also the country’s first Minister of Cooperation, had said, “Amul and KMF together will work towards ensuring a primary dairy in every village of Karnataka."
The impact: Because the KMF provides livelihood to more than 25 lakh farmers in the state, Shah's statement triggered a #SaveNandini campaign and a backlash from the Opposition against the brand's possible merger with Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul).
'No merger,' CM Bommai clarifies: Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai then clarified, “Nandini will always maintain its separate identity…The merger of Nandini into Amul is wrong imagination..."
But was the merger actually on the cards? The outrage may not have been off the mark. Amit Shah had announced in Sikkim in October 2022 that the process of forming a Multi-State Cooperative Society (MSCS) by merging Amul and five other cooperative societies had started, Mint reported.
What's the impact of these developments? Apart from the “merger,” ambiguity, and price rise, the KMF has also witnessed a fall in milk procurement by nine to 10 lakh litres a day since July 2022, Deccan Herald reported.
Why has there been a decline? The decline is being seen as the result of lumpy skin disease (LSD) and foot and mouth disease (FMD) among cattle, floods, and inferior fodder.
The big picture: While production is expected to further drop in summer, due to scarcity of green fodder, it remains to be seen how KMF, with a Rs 25,000 crore turnover, will endure the strike and soothe the van owners.
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