Agitating sugarcane growers in Maharashtra along with farmers from 14 states have decided to take their protest campaign to Rajghat in Delhi next month.
Shetkari Sanghatana leader Sharad Joshi in a conference of growers held in Pune informed the gathering that representatives of agrarian community will also meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with regard to their demands including decontrolling of sugar industry.
The sugarcane growers have been agitating since early this month voicing protest against the price of Rs 2500 per tonne offered by sugar factories instead of Rs 3,000 per tonne as demanded by the farmers.
In Pune the leaders spearheading the farmers agitation-Joshi, Raghunathdada Patil, and Kolhapur MP Raju Shetti have decided to come together to form a common platform in order to broaden the base of their agitation.
Patil and Shetti, earlier part of Joshi’s Shetkari Sanghatana, left the farmer’s body to form new organizations. Last week Shettiy held protests across five districts of western Maharashtra; the agitation turned violent and Shetti was arrested and sent to Yerawada jail for four days.
