Gujarat: Maldhari Community Milk Strike
A Maldhari convention was held in Shertha, Gandhinagar, where it was decided to have a milk strike on September 21.
The state’s Maldhari, which is a cattle herder community, is up in arms against the government. A Maldhari convention was held in Shertha, Gandhinagar, where it was decided to have a milk strike on September 21. Gujarati cattle herders have announced a milk strike as a result of which they will not deliver milk to households, to dairies, or even door-to-door. People had been stockpiling milk since the previous night, and dairies across the state had run out of stock. Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Vadodara are the major cities that were particularly affected. What is the reason for this strike? It is because of the Gujarat government’s Bill seeking to regulate stray cattle in urban areas of Gujarat. The new Bill, when it becomes a law, will be applicable in Gujarat’s eight major cities Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Junagadh – which have municipal corporations and 162 towns which have municipalities. There are a lot of stray cattle in Gujarat. The law will impound stray cattle, keep them in cattle pounds and if not claimed by owners within a week, seize them and send them to charitable organisations working for animal welfare.
However, most municipalities lack resources and facilities for carrying out such operations. Some time ago, Gandhidham municipality in Kutch had impounded 600 bulls and male calves after complaints from residents. But eventually, the civic body was forced to let them loose in a gradual manner as it ran out of resources to maintain them. Presently, municipal corporations charge Rs 1,000 fine and up to Rs 700 maintenance cost per cattle head per day from owners who come to claim their cattle after being impounded. The Maldhari Community were protesting against the Bill. Although the government has withdrawn the Cattle Control Bill, Maldhari Samaj is disappointed with the government’s policy on some remaining issues. They said that unless their demands are met, they will not supply milk properly. Amul is the only milk brand that is distributing milk to retailers during this strike. When asked about ending the strike, an Amul official stated that going on strike would be a waste of time rather than the Maldhari community and the government should solve the problem by discussion.
