Dairy farmer protest: Truck set on fire in Malegaon

Demanding price hike for milk farmers, workers of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathna (SSS), on Monday set ablaze a truck of Rajhans Milk Shop in Washim's Malegaon.

The driver who was inside the truck at the time it was set on fire, escaped without any injuries.

According to reports the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has threatened to block milk supply as a part of their agitation to demand a higher price for cow's milk.

Farmers across the state have been told to start blocking milk tankers headed to prominent cities.

Earlier today, the workers of SSS stopped vehicles near Pune and spilled milk on road thereby.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister for Dairy Development Mahadev Jankar requested the farmers to end the protest. "I request all farmers to not participate in the milk protest. We'll give a subsidy of Rs 50 on per kg of milk powder and Rs 5 on per liter milk for export. We're trying to give 50% subsidy on milk- 40% from Maharashtra government and 10% from centre," he said.

In a similar incident, the party workers on Sunday vandalised a tanker carrying milk from Wardha to Nagpur.

"Onus of Nagpur incident falls on state government and police. Protests were to begin at 12 am today but police started detaining workers from yesterday morning. They went to their houses and verbally abused women. Later on, the party workers reacted. We want to protest peacefully," SSS leader R Shetti told ANI.

"Government says that milk would be brought from other states, especially Gujarat and Karnataka. We'll start a 'Satyagraha' and ensure that no milk is brought from outside. It's the tactic of the government to disrupt the protest by doing this," he added.

Over the weekend, certain milk unions had reportedly promised SSS to raise milk prices by Rs 3 per litre. However, Shetti said that his party is firm on farmers receiving a subsidy of Rs 5 per litre.