Goa Minister questions milk quality, pricing by neighbouring states

Goa Co-operatives Minister Subhash Shirodkar on Saturday questioned the quality of milk supplied to Goa from neighbouring states and has now urged the Food and Drugs Administration to keep tabs on the quality of dairy products being imported into the coastal state.

“It is not the case that the milk is pure and worth consuming. We will have to give it some thought and I will do it. I will investigate this,” Shirodkar told reporters.

The co-operative minister also said that some brands of milk, which are located outside the state, were suspected in terms of quality as well as pricing.

Goa is a milk-deficit state, which produces less than one lakh litre every day, whereas the daily demand for milk is around 4.5 lakh litres. A bulk of the deficit is covered through private milk producers from Maharashtra and Karnataka, who sell their dairy products in Goa. According to government records, milk worth nearly Rs 4.5 crore from the two states is sold in Goa every day.

Shirodkar also said that the recent rise in the prices of milk announced by milk producers from outside the state—a trend which was also adopted by local milk producers—was unfair. "There is an element of abuse in terms of the rate of private milk coming into Goa," he said.

Shirodkar also said that his ministry was mulling restrictions on milk imports into Goa in the long run. "In the long run, we will have to sort out the dairy issue. We will have to put restrictions on milk coming from outside. Not just the rate, even quality," Shirodkar said.