With nine days left for the legislature session in Belagavi and sugarcane issue expected to rock it, there is not much headway in the State government’s efforts to resolve the impasse. Sugar factory owners have insisted there are no dues and said so in their reply to notices served by the district administration, while farmers have disputed the claim and threatened to resume their agitation. Three weeks ago, sugarcane growers in Belagavi began a protest against delayed payments and stopped trucks carrying sugarcane to factories. They pitched tents outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office and held on for weeks. This prompted Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to hold a meeting of farmers and factory representatives, following which he assured the farmers that he would make sure the factories paid them “whatever they had promised” in two weeks. Farmers were not convinced and resumed their protest till they were pacified by Minister for Water Resources D.K. Shivakumar.
After two weeks, however, there is little progress. Neither have farmers got the arrears nor has the government announced the State Advised Price (SAP) higher than the mandated fair and remunerative price (FRP). Farmers have demanded a minimum SAP of ₹3,250 a tonne, against the FRP of ₹2,750 a tonne.
Farmers’ organisation have vowed to take up a fortnight-long protest if the government fails to fulfil the demands. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the North Karnataka Development Forum have said they will join in. “There has been no positive development. Hence, we are going back to the route of agitation. We will also seek support from other associations,” said Sidagouda Motagi, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) leader who broke fast on the Minister’s request a week ago.
Meanwhile, the district administration says the factories have claimed that they have no dues. The government plans to convene a meeting of factory managements before the session, scheduled to start on December 10.
Three factories named
As per a report sent by the district administration to the government, three of the 24 factories in the district have not paid their dues. They are Soubhagyalakshmi Sugar Factory owned by Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, Malaprabha Cooperative Sugar Factory, and Shivasagar Pvt. Ltd. The last two have now stopped functioning.
Notices were issued to these factories, along with others, to submit details of the dues and cite reasons for non-payment. They have replied saying they have no dues to pay, as they have paid as per the FRP. As many as 10 of the factories had paid ₹400 to ₹500 more than the FRP to farmers who supplied sugarcane in the early days of the crushing season. This was because sugar price was high and the factories did not want farmers to sell sugarcane to units in Maharashtra. The rest of the 11 factories have told officials they had paid the same price to all farmers.
Farmers, however, are contesting these claims and have said that most of the factories have dues. Jayashree Gurannanavar, farmer’s leader, said factories have neither paid the FRP nor any amount higher than that. “We have submitted to the Deputy Commissioner’s office a list of 500 farmers who have not got dues from Soubhagyalakshmi factory alone since 2013. But there has been no action,” she said.