Journalism of Courage
After four days of protests, farmers in western Maharashtra called off their agitation on Monday while giving sugar millers and the government two weeks to arrange funds for making full payment of dues to sugarcane growers in the area.
Anil S Madnik, a senior leader of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, which has been spearheading the agitation, said both sides had agreed that farmers would be given full payment according to the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) and not partial payment as the mills had been doing. “We have asked the mills to impress upon the government the seriousness of the situation. We have given them time till January 28 to raise funds to pay full FRP,” Madnik said.
On January 28, Sanghatana leader and MP Raju Shetti will lead a protest rally to the Sugar Commissioner’s office in Pune.
The truce between the farmers and millers might have resolved the crisis, but it may have also pushed cane payment further away. As millers have agreed not to pay FRP in instalments, they will have to make agreement for funds to make full payment, which would not be easy. The truce will mean that farmers’ payment would be delayed by more than three months, which has never happened in the state.
Millers who attended the meeting with farmers said they explained to the protesters why they were unable to make the full payments. “We have already sent repeated proposals to the government to help us pay FRP. It was proposed that the government could provide Rs 500 per tonne as bridge payment to the farmers while we will pay the remaining amount. Also, we have asked for the minimum selling price of sugar to be raised to Rs 3,400 per quintal from the present Rs 2,900 per quintal,” said a miller.
Most millers have pinned their hope on an imminent rise in the minimum selling price of sugar which will help them raise more funds. It is estimated that the rise can be Rs 3,100-3,200 per quintal range.
Sanghtana’s Shetti said his organisation will continue to oppose the entry of BJP president Amit Shah in Kolhapur. Shah is slated to visit Kolhapur on January 24. “Just because we have decided to withdraw the agitation temporarily does not mean we have relaxed our stand of full payment of FRP,” he said.
Shetti met Sugar Commissioner Shekar Gaikwad in Pune on Monday and demanded action against mills who have not made full payments to farmers. He also demanded that the mills be allowed to pay the remaining amount in the form of sugar but without GST. Gaikwad said he had instructed mills to pay the full FRP for small and medium landholders. “The other proposal of payment of bridge amount in the form of sugar has also been accepted in principle by most mills. We will be looking into the modalities of it,” he said.
The district administration has issued prohibitory orders in Kolhapur till January 29.
The truce ended the four-day crisis in western Maharashtra. Farmers had taken to roads to protest against the partial payment of FRP by mills, burning tyres, blocking highways and locking down sugar mills. They were protesting against the decision of majority of the sugar mills to pay farmers at the rate of Rs 2,300 per tonne of sugarcane instead of the average of Rs 2,800 per tonne of FRP in the region. Mills had cited flat sugar rates and their liquidity crunch for their inability to make full payments.
