Activists of district unit of Bharatiya Janata Party staged a protest here on Saturday, condemning the alleged failure of the Congress government in State to protect the interests of farmers.
B.Y. Raghavendra, Shikaripur MLA, said the State government had failed to ensure remunerative price for sugarcane cultivated by farmers. The sugarcane growers were in financial distress owing to the fact that the price fixed for their produce by sugar factories was not remunerative. A major chunk of private sugar factories had failed to abide by the advisory price fixed by the government for purchasing sugarcane from farmers.
Even after repeated orders issued by the State government, the private sugar factories had failed to clear the arrears, he said.
The government’s decision to seize the stocks at sugar factories which had turned defaulters and clear the arrears by selling the stock was not the right move, as there were practical difficulties in executing this. Number of suicide attempts by sugarcane growers was rising by the day owing to the delay in finding a solution for the issue by the government, he said.
Addressing the gathering, Belur Gopalakrishna, ex-MLA, said that even the paddy and arecanut growers in Malnad region were in dire straits owing to prices being fixed for their produce being not remunerative. The delay in the payment of arrears by sugar factories had de-moralised the farmers. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should initiate appropriate measures to instil confidence among sugarcane growers. The State government should pay the cane growers their dues from the exchequer and later, recover it from sugar factory owners, he said.
Farmers are in financial distress because the price being fixed for their produce is not remunerative:
B.Y. Raghavendra
