Session: Cane growers plan bitter pill

Belagavi: The government’s worst fears seem to be coming true. Even as it readies to hold the winter session of the  state legislature in Belgaum, sugarcane growers  are  preparing to stage a massive protest in front of Suvarna Vidhan Soudha while it is underway, demanding a better price for their produce.

Squarely blaming Chief Minister  Siddaramaiah  for their predicament ,the growers accuse him of failing to deliver on  his promise to get them a price of Rs 2650 per tonne of cane, which he had made during the last winter session of the state legislature in Belgaum.

“Although we are ready to harvest our fresh sugarcane crop, the government has still not fixed the state advisory price (SAP) and the  committee it appointed to fix the price for cane has not met even once over the last  year,'' said  president of the Rajya Raitha Sangha,  Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, accusing the government  of succumbing to the lobby of sugar factories.

“Cane growers and other farmers will assemble in large numbers outside the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha to teach the government a lesson,” he warned.

Former Union minister, Babagouda Patil, said the government should  form a committee of higher officials to ensure that all the pending  bills of cane growers were settled by  the factories. In his veiw, the cane  growers should be free to supply cane to the factories that paid them well.