THIRUVANANATHAPURAM: Finally, the Thiruvananthapuram union of Milma has decided to relaunch the milk in blue sachets. And if the film (which goes to make the sachets) arrives on Wednesday night itself from Pune, the product will be available in the market on Thursday itself, informed sources with the Union on Wednesday.Though it ought to be good news for many consumers, the catch is that it is priced the same as the milk in pink sachets (the fat-rich variety), ie at Rs 30 per litre. “The reason is that we are bringing out homogenous milk in blue sachets, which means it is extremely rich in fat content. So, it is priced at Rs 30 per litre,” said a source with the Milma.The Thiruvananthapuram Union has been drawing flak for not selling this variety even after the milk price hike had come into effect. Only the double-toned variety (milk in yellow sachets) was available till now, which is priced at 27 per litre. The blue sachet ought to have cost Rs 28 per litre, if the milk was not homogenised. It was early this year that the blue sachet was withdrawn by Milma against the backdrop of severe milk shortage. After the milk price was increased by ` 5 per litre in September, the Ernakulam and Malabar unions had relaunched the blue sachets as per the directives of the top officials of the Cooperative. But the Thiruvananathapuram Union, which comprises the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha, didn’t do so, which, eventually invited protests from the higher-ups of the Milma union. Also, the Confederation of Consumer Vigilance Centre had filed a case against Milma in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum saying that it was not making the toned milk, which has a fat content of three per cent, available for the consumers.When contacted, the Union office-bearers had then said that it was a precautionary measure to deal with the impending milk shortage. “By mid-December, there will be a decrease in milk production. So, even if we relaunch the blue sachet, we would have to withdraw it very soon,” we were told.Even now, the Milma officials are not sure about how long they would be able to supply the blue sachets. The statistics available with Milma show that after the price hike, the procurement didn’t go up at all in the Thiruvananthapuram union, but the demand did. The demand for milk in the Union, which is largely dependent on milk from outside, had gone up by at least 10 per cent after the price hike.
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