Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday announced the formation of a five-member committee, led by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, to look into the demands of the sugar industry in Maharashtra.
The committee, which will also have Union finance minister PC Chidambaram and food & civil supplies minister KV Thomas, is expected to submit its report in the next three days, farmer leaders from Maharashtra said.
An all-party delegation from Maharashtra, led by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, along with representatives of agitating sugarcane farmers, met the PM in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in the state and also the current deadlock in Maharashtra over cane price.
The Maharashtra CM 's earlier meeting with Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetty at his hometown Karad on Monday remained inconclusive, following which a decision was taken to meet the PM in Delhi.
Shetty said the meeting was unsatisfactory and the agitation for a higher cane price in Maharashtra would continue. Shetty's organisation has been demanding a cane price of R3,000 per tonne. Swambhimani Shetkari Sanghatana state unit president Sadabhau Khot said farmers from different parts of the state would converge at Karad on Wednesday to decide on the future course of the agitation.
Shetty has made Karad the base for his agitation this year.
The all party delegation that had met PM demanded an export subsidy, the creation of buffer stock of sugar, 10% ethanol blending, an increase in the import duty and interest- free loan. Shetty has expressed his support to the demands of the industry from the government.
Vitthal Pawar, general secretary from the Sharad Joshi-led Shetkari Sanghatan, also said talks with the PM had failed and the Sanghatana's agitation in Maharashtra will continue. Raghunathdada Patil, president of Shetkari Sanghatana said the meet with PM remained inconclusive.
A dharna will be held at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on December 12, which will include organisations from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Punjab, he said.