Farmers started an agitation in Sangli and Kolhapur districts of western Maharashtra on Tuesday over their various demands, including a hike in milk procurement prices. The agitators along with members of the Raju Shetti- led Swambhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmers organisation, stopped milk tankers and emptied them on the Pune-Bengaluru highway passing the two districts. Talking to PTI, Shetti said they are demanding an increase in milk procurement prices by Rs 5 per litre and the benefit to be directly deposited into the accounts of milk producers. "We are also demanding an export subsidy of Rs 30 for milk producers and cancellation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on milk products," he said. Shetti also demanded cancellation of the Centres decision to import 10,000 tonnes of milk powder. He said milk business in the state has been affected "because of the policies of the central government". "Since early morning, members of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana have been agitating in the region (Sangli and Kolhapur) by stopping the milk tankers and spilling milk on roads," he added. BJP Pune unit president Jagdish Mulik also said they will to launch a statewide agitation from August 1, if the demands of milk producers are not met. On Monday, BJP leaders in Pune submitted a memorandum of their demands to Collector Naval Kishore Ram. Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid- day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates. Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

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