Rollback hike in prices of Aavin milk: Jaya

Chennai, Mar 11 (UNI) Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today urged the State government to roll back the hike in prices of Aavin milk.

Condemning the price rise, the Leader of the Opposition, in a statement here, said the hike, second time in the last 21 months after the DMK came to power, would severely affect the poor and middle class people and demanded that the government withdraw the hike immediately.

She said the ''anti-people'' measure had led to rise in prices of tea, coffee, ice cream and other milk-based products and caused a deficit of about Rs 500 in the family budget of all sections of the people.

The DMK government had hiked the milk price by Rs 1.25 in March last year on the ground that the state-owned Aavin was facing a loss of Rs 20 crore a year and this time, it has hiked the price by Rs two. The government has also quietly hiked the prices of other Aavin products, she said.

Ms Jayalalithaa said during her regime, the procurement of milk was raised but considering the interest of consumers the government did not increase the selling price.

The DMK government should follow similar practise to protect the interest of both milk suppliers and consumers, she suggested.

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