Mumbai, July 19: In a big relief to the residents of Maharashtra, Raju Shetty, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna chief, has called-off the protest demanding a price hike for milk farmers after the state government announced Rs 25 per litre as the minimum rate of milk for dairy farmers from July 21. The Maharashtra government today announced a hike of Rs 8 per litre of milk.

The decision has provided major relief to the dairy farmers who were on a strike from past four days. On the hand, the consumers will be affected by this decision as prices of dairy products prices will increase. The farmers were protesting in various parts of the state since Monday. They were demanding a hike in the procurement prices.

Major cities of the state like Mumbai and Pune were largely affected by the protest. A Western Railways was also mulling to provide milk form Gujarat by attaching milk tankers to the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central passenger train to solve problems faced by consumers.

Dairy development minister Mahadev Jankar said in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday evening that the government decided to give Rs 25 per litre for milk to dairy farmers with effect from 21 July. The minister announced a meeting convened by Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present in the meeting.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2018 11:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).