Protest suspended, not withdrawn, say KRRS leaders

Sugarcane farmers in Belagavi claimed to have only suspended their agitation and not withdrawn it completely. “Our protest will continue till the farmers take home a total of ₹5,500 per tonne,’’ Chunappa Pujeri, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene president, told reporters in Gurlapur on Friday.

“We have accepted the price of ₹3,600 per tonne offered by factories as a temporary solution to our problems. This is conditional to the fact that the factories have agreed to share their profits with us. This is the first time in the country that the factories have agreed to a profit-sharing formula,” Mr.

Pujeri said. “However, our demand for ₹5,500 per tonne remains unchanged. We also expect Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to release an incentive of ₹1,000 per tonne as State Advised Price. The State government in neighbouring Maharashtra has promised to release ₹3,900 in the first instalment, ₹100 later and ₹200 if the Union government revises the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of sugar.

The Tamil Nadu government is releasing an SAP of ₹700 per tonne, in addition to the centrally mandated Fair and Remunerative Price. The governments in UP and Haryana are also offering incentives. Karnataka should do so to,” he said.

Meanwhile, farmers in Vijayapura demanded that the profit-sharing formula agreed upon in Belagavi be implemented across the State. KRRS leaders submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner K. Anand. He responded by saying that he would convene a meeting of all factories and farmers’ leaders in Vijayapura on Saturday.

“There are 10 sugar factories in the district, but all of them are not paying the same price. Last year, while the factories in the Krishna river belt paid around ₹3,300 per tonne, those in the Bhima river belt paid only around ₹3,000.

This year, we want all the factories to pay ₹3,600 per tonne,” said Shantagouda Patil, KRRS leader. Sangamesh Sagar, Ramanagouda Patil, Dayananda Koli, Mahadeva Banasode, Sangappa Takke, Abhishekha Hoogar, Mudakanna and other leaders were present.

In Bagalkot, however, farmers leaders refused to accept the price of ₹3,600 offered by factories. “We have seen before our own eyes that a politician who was a director in one cooperative factory has now set up 20 private factories.

It shows that they are regularly making profits. If they want to make unlimited money, why should the farmers suffer? We want ₹5,500 per tonne for sugarcane,” they alleged. Meanwhile, Raju Shetti, former MP and founder of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatan (SSS), ended his national highway rasta roko protest on Friday.

He announced that the State government had announced that the farmers were likely to get ₹4,200 in three installments. The factories will first pay ₹3,900 per tonne before crushing, ₹100 after the end of crushing and ₹200 per tonne if the Union government revises MSP for sugar.

This was announced after a meeting of factories and farmers convened by Minister Hassan Mushrif, Mr. Shetti said. He gave the credit to the united struggle of Karnataka and Maharashtra for what he called was an interim success of the agitation.

The SSS members had blocked the Pune-Bangalore highway at Kini zakat naka for two days. It was opened by Friday evening.