Aavin sales went up by only 3 pc in city, reveals RTI reply

Ponnusamy, state president, Tamil Nadu Milk Traders Workers Welfare Association, filed an RTI, on November 1 and got the reply only recently, in which it was stated that the daily milk consumption in Chennai is 11.61 lakh litres per day.

According to Ponnusamy, the sale of Aavin milk had increased by only 3 per cent in the last 2.5 years. “I filed an RTI, on July 1, 2016 and got the information that till June 2016, the daily sales of Aavin milk is 11.25 lakh litres and the number had increased by just 36,000, which is just 3 per cent,” he said.

He also said that in the corresponding period, the sale of private milk had dipped by 25 per cent due to false propaganda against private milk companies.

Ponnusamy blamed Dairy Minister Rajenthra Bhalaji for the dip in sale of milk sold by the private companies. “Minister made a false claim in front of media that private milk companies sell adulterated milk and asked people to avoid the milk sold by private companies. Due to the false claims people lost confidence in the milk sold by private companies,” said Ponnusamy.

Ponnusamy also quoted his personal experience and said that it is hard to convince people on the quality of milk as they are reluctant and question him back whether the Minister will lie on the issue. “People do not question Minister’s statement but only question us despite saying that Minister’s statement had ulterior motives,” he added.

Apart from the Minister’s false accusations on private milk companies, Ponnusamy also listed the changes in food pattern of people and rise in price for dip in sale of milk. “Now people started preferring milk-less tea such as green tea and lemon tea, citing health related issues. Also, the price of tea and coffee had increased which has prompted people to lessen the number of tea and coffee that they consume every day,” he reasoned.