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ShareLucknow: The so-called "fair and remunerative price" (FRP) the Centre declared for sugarcane recently has started a bitter war between the farmers and the government. Large swathes of sugarcane fields in west Uttar Pradesh have been set ablaze by farmers. The anger among the farmers is such that many have tried to immolate themselves in the burning fields.
On Thursday, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh held a 'mahapanchayat' in Meerut and declared a 'gherao' of Parliament by cane farmers on November 19.
Rashtriya Mazdoor Kisan Sangathan president VM Singh has also declared that thousands of cane farmers from across UP would stage a massive demonstration at Gajraula in west UP on November 9 to mark the beginning of a decisive battle against government policies on cane and sugar.
Farmers are demanding that the price should be upwards of Rs200 per quintal. "The farmers should be the ones to fix sugarcane rates... Rs280 per quintal is the remunerative price, anything below is unacceptable," VM Singh told DNA.
Cane price has always been a prickly issue in UP, the second largest producer of sugar in the country after Maharashtra. The issue also has strong political overtones as west UP, the cradle of cane cultivation, accounts for 20 Lok Sabha and about a 100 Vidhan Sabha seats spread over 18 districts.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has also taken the opportunity to attack the Centre on this issue. While the Centre has declared FRP of Rs129 per quintal, the UP government has announced the State Advised Price (SAP) of Rs165 to Rs170.
"With the new FRP system, the Centre has indirectly taken away the state government's right to fix cane price," Mayawati said in a letter to the PM recently. "The Centre has amended the Sugar Cane Control Order 1966 arbitrarily without taking the states into confidence," she said, adding that this had adversely affected more than 40 lakh cane farmers in UP.
The BJP has also taken up cudgels on this issue. "The government is benefiting mill owners by imposing such meagre rates," says BJP general secretary HN Dixit. "When the support price was between Rs126 and 145, sugar in the market cost Rs15 to 20. Now, when sugar is selling at Rs40 per kg, cane prices have been increased by only Rs 25 (in UP)... this is being done to fill the coffers of mill owners," he said. The BJP supports the RLD agitation on this issue, he said.
Meanwhile, the Mayawati government has announced a complete ban on import of raw sugar in UP. Instead of crushing cane, mill owners were refining brown sugar imported from Brazil, Fiji and Australia, and selling it at high rates in the open market.
With a crucial round of by-elections to one Lok Sabha and 11 Assembly seats scheduled for November 7, Mayawati seems to be tackling the issue with extreme caution.
