JOIN USChief Minister Siddaramaiah bought more time to look into sugar cane growers’ demand for higher remunerative prices from sugar factories.
The representatives of Karnataka State Sugar Cane Growers’ Association met the chief minister to discuss the price issue in Belagavi on Tuesday. Siddaramaiah reportedly told them that the government will meet the persons concerned after the ongoing winter session.
A tripartite meeting between farmers, factory owners and the government, has been assured to the association members. However, at the meeting Siddaramaiah conveyed that sugar mills have been unable to settle the Rs 2,500 ex-field assurance due to problems faced by the factories.
While the chief minister refused to take questions on the developments of the meeting, the Sugar Minister H S Mahadev Prasad said the government has assured farmers that their concerns will be addressed at the earliest.
“We have told the farmers that the government will try to convince sugar factories to pay them the Rs 2,200 in a first installment by the end of December and the rest will be paid in a second installment. The sugar factories have pleaded with us that they are unable to pay the entire amount in a single installment due to various concerns of their own,” said the Sugar Minister.
Prasad also said the government has agreed on several points raised by the farmers, like setting up purchasing centres for production of maize, despite the fact that government finances will take a hit from the purchase.