Sugarcane growers, under the banner of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), staged a demonstration outside Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mandy on Monday to protest against the non-payment of dues by various sugar mills in the district.
The protestors took out a procession from Silver Jubilee Park and culminated outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
Five 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. 126.94 crore to the growers who supplied cane. Of the overdue payment, Rs. 20.40 crore belongs to the 2013-14 crushing season and the balance Rs. 106.54 crore to the last year’s season.
Following the non-payment of their dues, several sugarcane growers have committed suicide in the district, protestors alleged.
They urged the State and Union governments to initiate measures to prevent farmer suicides in the State.
The farmers also demanded the governments to fix the sugarcane procurement price at Rs. 3,000 a tonne for the crushing season 2015-16 and to scientifically fix the supporting price for other crops.
“If our demands are not conceded, we would intensify our protest,” they said.
