Scarcity of Aavin milk in Salem forces public to buy milk from private dairies

The public and the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation Limited (Aavin) milk agents in Salem alleged that the amount of milk supplied by Aavin has decreased, creating a scarcity of Aavin milk for the past week, and forcing people to buy milk from private dairies at a higher cost.

There are over 810 primary milk producer cooperative societies that are functioning in Salem district, and over 49,000 members are involved. On an average, five lakh litres of milk are procured every day from the members. In the district, Aavin supplies 2.25 lakh litres of milk to their milk agents, which is sold to the public. However, for the past one week, scarcity prevails for Aavin milk, and the public have been buying milk from private dairies for higher prices.

The Tamil Nadu Aavin Milk Agents and Workers Welfare Association president A. Aruna Sundhar said that, for the past one month, milk supplied to the agents have begun to reduce. At present, only 1.40 lakh litres of milk are supplied to the agents per day, which was also not supplied on time. Earlier, Aavin’s milk used to reach the agents by 4 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.. But, now, the milk reaches the agents at 8 a.m., and between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. “When enquired, there was no proper response from the Aavin officials. Earlier, Aavin used to display the total litres of milk that was arrived and dispatched on the notice board. But now it is not displayed,” Mr. Sundhar added.

Stating that people are opting for milk provided by private dairies, Mr. Sundhar said that people who bought one litre of Aavin milk for ₹60 are now buying milk from private dairies for ₹72. Compared to Aavin, the private diaries also provide a high procurement price. He alleged that the milk producers who are getting subsidies and other facilities from the government provide less milk to Aavin and sell more quantities of the produce to the private dairies.

Similarly, the high-fat-content milk (Aavin Gold), which has high demand from tea and coffee shops, was not supplied promptly by Aavin, causing them to move to private dairies. “In my 36 years of experience as an Aavin milk agent, I have not witnessed this much scarcity for Aavin milk, and the officials are not responding to any complaints,” Mr. Sundhar alleged.

Repeated attempts to reach Dairy Development Minister C. Vijayalakshmi and Salem Aavin officials went in vain.