Members of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) and Hasiru Sene took out a protest rally here on Monday demanding action against those sugar mills that have not cleared the dues of sugarcane suppliers.
The sugar mills in the district, including the State-run Mysore Sugar Company Ltd. (Mysugar) and the Pandavapura Sahakari Sakkare Kharkhane (PSSK) in the cooperative sector, owe at least Rs. 200 crore to the farmers who have supplied cane. The farmers, under the leadership of K.S. Puttannaiah, MLA for Melkote, took out the rally from the Silver Jubilee Park on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. The rally culminated on the premises of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, where they staged a dharna. The mills have to clear dues for the cane procured from suppliers for the crushing seasons 2014-15 and 2015-16, the MLA said. The State government should initiate stringent action against these mills that have failed to pay the statutory fair and remunerative price (FRP), mandated by the government to sugarcane suppliers, he demanded. Mr. Puttannaiah, who is also a KRRS leader, urged the State government to revive the sick Mysore Sugar Company Ltd. (Mysugar mill), appoint a senior IAS officer to the mill as a Managing Director and to initiate drought relief measures in the district. State organising secretary K.S. Nanjundegowda, KRRS district president M.V. Raje Gowda and others were present.