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News
Maha farmer activists, sugar millers call interim truce
Date:
15 Jan 2019
Source:
The Financial Express
Reporter:
Nanda Kasabe
News ID:
35896
Pdf:
Nlink:
After a spate of violence over the weekend, farmer activists in Maharashtra agreed to a temporary truce with sugar millers in the state. Sugar millers in Kolhapur — the sugar belt of Maharashtra and members of farmer organisation Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) met on Monday to resolve the unrest among cane growers over the delayed and part payment of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) by sugar factories in the state.
Farmer activists torched offices, damaged vehicles and forcibly closed offices of sugar factories in Satara Sangli and Kolhapur districts on Saturday and Sunday.
In Pune, farmer leader and chief of SSS Raju Shetti sought sugar in lieu of the FRP dues when millers expressed their inability to pay the FRP dues, while in Kolhapur, millers claimed that the farmer activists agreed to call off violence after an amicable solution was reached among the millers and the Sanghatana members.
“Till January 20, no sugar mill will release the payment against the FRP till the government hikes the Minimum Floor Price of sugar to Rs 3,400 per quintal from the current minimum floor price of Rs 2,900 per quintal. Another meeting will be held on January 29 and if the government does not take a decision by then, the future course of action will be decided,” said Manohar Gopal Joshi, MD, Jawakar Shetkari Sahakari SSK.
Following the decision at Kolhapur, activists in Satara and Sangli are also expected to follow suit and stop violence against mills. Two months after cane crushing season started this year, mills already have pending cane arrears worth Rs 4,575.53 crore. As many as 75 mills, including almost all the mills in the sugar bowl of Sangli and Kolhapur, have not paid anything to their growers.
“Not a single sugar factory in the state has made FRP payments to farmers. On Monday, I met Maharashtra Sugar Commission Shekhar Gaikwad and said that if millers claim that they do not have any money to make FRP payments then they should give sugar to farmers. The Commissionerate has issued notices to millers a couple of times,” Shetti said, adding that a status quo has been reached between millers and activists to stop violence and blocking cane from reaching factories in Kolhapur.
Shetti warned that farmers would not allow BJP president Amit Shah to enter western Maharashtra if dues to the farmers are not cleared. Shah is to hold a meeting of BJP workers on January 24 in Kolhapur. Significantly, following a meeting of the Sanghatana members and factory owners, the factories deposited the money at the rate of Rs 2,300 per tonne while the fair and remunerative price (FRP) is Rs 2,800 per tonne.
Most of the factories in Maharashtra have not made payment to farmers for more than three months now, creating unrest in the sugar belt.Thirty-seven factories in Sangli and Kolhapur districts have been served notices by the office of the sugar commissioner for violation of the Sugarcane Control Act. Most of the private and cooperative sugar factories had only deposited 80% of the money they owed them in their bank accounts. They are upset as it’s mandatory for factories to make full payment within 14 days after cane is taken for crushing.
Though the Sugar Control Act makes it mandatory for sugar factories to pay farmers for their produce in a single installment, most factories in Maharashtra have only made part payment so far while a few have not paid anything at all citing heavy losses.According to the Maharashtra Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad, 37 factories in Sangli and Kolhapur districts have so far been served notices for delaying payments to farmers.Data put out by the Sugar Commissioner indicate that 188 sugar factories in the state owe more than Rs 4,500 crore to sugarcane farmers for the crushing season which began after the last monsoons. Sugar mills are citing falling prices caused by a huge surplus of sugar stocks for their inability to pay sugarcane farmers.
On Friday, while most mills in the region finally started paying their farmers for November, instead of the full FRP, they paid them at the rate of Rs 2,300 per tonne. The average FRP of Sangli and Kolhapur, which has higher sugar recovery rate than other parts of Maharashtra, is around Rs 2,850, excluding the harvesting and transportation charges. Shetti pointed out the agitation was held because millers had made part payments and millers have now agreed to make provisions for the full payment of FRP and follow up with the government on the Minimum Floor Price issue. Another agitation has been planned by the Sanghatana on January 28 in Pune.
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