The issue of dues to sugarcane farmers rocked the Legislative Council on the opening day of the session at Belagavi, with Leader of Opposition K.S. Eshwarappa demanding that the Government pay the dues out of its own coffers and then recover it by auctioning the sugar seized from defaulting mills.
Mr. Eshwarappa raised the issue as an adjournment motion, but it was later taken up for debate under Rule Number 68. He said that it was the only way to stop "serial suicide" of farmers.
He said the government had already seized 7,80,000 metric tonnes of sugar from factories which would fetch the Government Rs. 1,575 crore at the rate of Rs. 20 per kg. "Pay the dues first and then recover it by auctioning the money at the earliest," he said.
The debate in the Council, taken up as priority ahead of the question hour, kept getting derailed as the ruling party and Opposition leaders kept sidetracking the issue to trade charges against each other.
