President of the Karnataka State sugar cane growers’ association Kurubur Shanthakumar has alleged that Excise Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s sugar factory is paying not more than Rs 2,000 per tonne of sugar cane, while the government has fixed the minimum purchase price at Rs 2,500 a tonne.
Addressing the media on Thursday in Bangalore, the farmers’ leader said that Jarkiholi is in charge of Belgaum district too, which has not less than 22 sugar factories.
The minister, in blatant violation of the government order, is purchasing sugar cane for just Rs 2,000 a tonne. He is setting a bad precedent for other sugar factories, he added.
The minister should be removed from the Cabinet for having violated the government rule.“He is the right-hand man of the chief minister. Such violation should not be tolerated by the chief minister,” he said.