Kalaburagi: Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) honorary president Chamarasa Malipatil has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ensure that all sugar factories in Bidar and Kalaburagi districts pay a uniform price of Rs 3,300 per tonne of sugarcane, similar to the rate recently fixed for factories in Bagalkot district, reports The Hindu.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, he said the State government should immediately issue an order making this uniform price applicable to all sugar mills in Karnataka. He stressed that the benefit “should not be restricted to just one part of the State,” and that all sugarcane growers must receive the same rate.
Malipatil alleged that several sugar factories were altering sugar recovery figures to reduce payments to farmers. He said that the same sugarcane shows a higher recovery rate when crushed in Maharashtra, but the rate “drops suddenly” when processed in Karnataka, which he described as a deliberate move to mislead farmers.
He also said that the recent burning of sugarcane-laden vehicles in Mudhol taluk of Bagalkot district was part of a larger plan by sugar mill owners. Farmers had been protesting peacefully, he said, and the tractors carrying sugarcane were set on fire before attempts were made to blame the growers. “No farmer will burn his own crop,” he said.
Mr. Malipatil warned that the KRRS will intensify its protests if the State government does not issue an order directing all sugar factories to pay the uniform price and safeguard the interests of sugarcane growers.
