Goa farmers protest, pour hundreds of litres of milk on road

Jul 16, 2019, 10:03 AM IST

Protesting farmers who said they had brought milk as a gift for legislators, poured it on the streets after police stopped them outside the legislature complex in Porvorim.

This was after they were miffed with the Gujarat-based Surat District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (SUMUL) which refused to take the delivery of 4,500 litres of milk on Monday morning (July 15) after failing it for quality following a litmus paper test.

“We did it with a heavy heart. We know how tough it is for a farmer to do this. But we had to protest,” said Meghashyam Raut, one of the leaders of the protestors.

Raut said a proper laboratory test should have been conducted by SUMUL before rejecting the milk. The farmers have threatened to intensify their agitation, if SUMUL continues to harass them.

He said SUMUL, which was introduced in Goa during the time of former chief minister late Manohar Parrikar with a promise of better rates for milk, was now claiming non-cooperation from the state government and had also withheld bonuses.