Bengaluru: Farmers received assurances from Sugar and Textiles Minister Shankar Patil Munenakoppa that he and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will soon meet to discuss raising the Fair Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane for the 2022–2023 season.
Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday October 15 he said, “The FRP that farmers are asking for is Rs. 5,500 per tonne of cane. This is to make sure that transportation and harvesting don’t become a hardship for them. After a lengthy meeting with Raitha Sangha members. We will shortly offer them the good news.”
Munenakoppa stated that he is likely to meet with the Sugarcane Control Board members on Wednesday to discuss complaints of sugar mills exploiting farmers over-harvesting and transport costs as well as cane weighing, among other things.
He claimed that only Rs. 11 Crore out of Rs. 19,634 Crore is still due to farmers, adding that both cooperative and private sugar factories had given 99.9 per cent of what was due to farmers.
Raitha Sangha leader Kuruburu Shanthakumar said they have set a deadline of October 20 for the government to resolve their issues. “Or else, we’ll relaunch our struggle and give bad news to the government,” he added.
Over 150 Raitha Sangha and farmer leaders, including Sunanda Jayaram and Sunitha Puttannaiah from Mandya and South Indian Sugar Mills Association President Sushma took part in the meeting.
