Mumbai, July 31:
The sale and purchase of sugarcane in Maharashtra will soon be governed by a new law.
The proposed law will help farmers get a better price for their crop.
It will also help in setting the appropriate price for cane by-products such as bagasse, molasses and press mud.
The new Act will incorporate recommendations of the Rangarajan Committee report on deregulation of sugar sector.
Under the Act, a board would be formed, which will have a mandate to set cane prices and have supervisory powers over the cooperative sugar mills.
The board will consist of ministers, government officers and farmer representatives. The Minister for Cooperation will be the Chairman of the board.
A senior official of Maharashtra Government told Business Line that the Act will have certain provisions that will ensure that co-operative sugar mills pay all the outstanding dues to the farmers within a fortnight.
They would also be forced to make payments to the farmers based on the cane weight recorded at the mill gate, the official said.
The board will set the cane price based on the ‘fair and remunerative price’ declared by the Centre for sugarcane, the official added.
Due to this mechanism, the confrontation between the farmers and the State Government will be reduced considerably.
Farmers will not have to resort to violent agitations to get the appropriate cane price.
The Act splits the revenue between the farmers and mills at 70:30, if the sugarcane is processed and byproducts such as bagasse, molasses and press mud are sold by the mill.
If the mill only produces sugar, then the revenue split would be 75:25, the official said.
The official pointed that for those violating the Act, there was a provision of one-year jail term and a fine of Rs 25,000.
Farmers’ leader and Member of Parliament from Kolhapur Raju Shetti said that the State Government is attempting to incorporate only a few suggestions from the Rangarajan Committee report in the Act.
But farmers want all the suggestion to be implemented.
“If the government tries to push this act down our throats, then we will launch a state wide protest,” he warned.