More than 5,000 cane farmers in Maharashtra on Monday laid siege on the road leading to the Sugar Commissionerate in Pune, seeking action against millers which have not paid fair and remunerative price (FRP) to them.
With talks between the farmer delegation and officials falling through, farmers have decided to go on an indefinite protest outside the office of the Commissionerate until their demands are met.
The call for an agitation was given by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana over non-payment of dues. The farmer outfit is insistent that the Sugar Commissioner should issue Revenue and Recovery Certificate (RRC) orders against the sugar mills and lodge FIRs against the chairman and board of directors of the factories that have not made payments to farmers.
Raju Shetti, leader of the Sanghatana, said that unless the Sugar Commissioner gives these assurances in writing to them, farmers would continue to stay outside the office of the Commissionerate indefinitely.
Anticipating violence, a police platoon was also waiting in the wings to prevent the mob from causing trouble. Of the 191 factories that are crushing cane this season in Maharashtra, only 11 mills have made FRP payments and 180 factories have dues pending against them.
Shetti said FRP dues of sugar mills have risen to over `5,300 crore and millers are yet to make the payments to farmers.
Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said while the Commissionerate in principle has agreed to issue RRC (seizure) orders against factories, the office would have to speak to higher authorities in the government before lodging FIRs against the factories. Shetti, however, was insistent that the Commissioner should agree to issue seizure orders against factories and take criminal action against factories for their failure to make payments.
The Sanghatana, however, has been insisting on FRP in a single installment and has threatened to stage a morcha outside the office of the Commissionerate on January 28.
Shetti claimed that only 11 factories in Maharashtra have paid FRP to farmers in a single amount and cane farmers in Maharashtra continue to wait for their payments from millers as the state’s Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) arrears position continues to remain a concern with arrears piling up to `5,326.36 crore.
As on January 15, sugar factories have paid `5,166.99 crore to farmers while the arrears are around `5,320.36 crore, senior officials at the Sugar Commissionerate said. The total payable FRP as on January 15 was `10,487.34 crore.
According to officials, around 426.84 lakh tonne of cane was crushed until January 15. According to the Commissioner, millers have been unable to make payments because of the falling prices in the domestic and international market.
There is a gap of `400-500 per quintal between the valuations of banks and the prevailing market prices which needs to be closed, he said, adding that the millers have been demanding subsidy to overcome this gap. The recent protests have been sparked by sugar mills’ decision to pay farmers a rate of `2,300 for every tonne of cane crushed, even as the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) is `2,850 per tonne.
The farmers were enraged over a delay and marginal payment of their dues by the sugar factories.