<p>Belagavi: The agitating sugarcane growers on Thursday reluctantly agreed to give the state government a two-day deadline to address their eight-point demands, including fixing the sugarcane price at Rs 3,500 per tonne, following an appeal by Sugar Minister Shivanand Patil.</p>.<p>The minister faced the farmers’ ire when he visited the protest site. The farmers shouted slogans against the government and did not allow the minister to speak. A few farmer leaders, including Chunappa Pujari, appealed the protesters to let the minister speak.</p>.<p>Shivanand Patil appealed to agitating farmers, with folded hands, for two days to resolve the issues.</p>.<p>Addressing the farmers, the minister said, “I will not indulge in politics over farmer issues. This is a very sensitive issue. The country knows what you are capable of. Please stay calm and give us two days time to address your issues. I appeal to you to postpone your plans to block the highway by two days, the minister said.</p>.<p>The farmer leaders told the minister that they would give the government two days’ time, but not end their protest. “We will intensify our protest if the state government fails to fulfil our demands in two days,” the agitating farmers warned.</p>.Sugarcane farmers’ agitation: Siddaramaiah convenes meeting on Nov 7; seeks PM Modi's appointment.<p>Earlier in the day, the farmers staged a mock funeral of the sugar minister at Gurlapur Cross on the 8th day of the protest. They raised slogans against the minister and the government.</p>.<p>More than 25 religious heads and seers of the mutts in Belagavi district expressed their solidarity with the protesters. The seers, along with students of several schools and colleges, sat with the protesters at the site.</p>.<p>Mudalgi town witnessed complete shutdown on Thursday. The youths took out a bike rally from Mugalkhod to Gurlapur Cross.</p>.<p>Similar protests were witnessed at many taluks in Krishna basin districts, including Bailhongal, Ramdurg, Chennamana Kittur, Mudhol, Lokapur, Jamkhandi among others.</p>.<p>In Khanapur, lawyers boycotted court proceedings to extend their support to the ongoing agitation of the sugarcane growers.</p>.<p>The demands of the farmers of sugarcane-growing districts include fixing sugarcane price at Rs 3,500 per tonne, clearing bills within 15 days of cane supply, 12 hours of uninterrupted power supply, re-establishment of sugar commissionerate, bringing down sugar recovery costs among others.</p>.<p>Patil lobs the ball into Centre’s court </p><p>Sugar Minister Shivanand Patil on Thursday lobbed the ball to Centre’s court saying the Union government is empowered to fix the sugarcane price. </p><p>The power to fix the sugarcane price lies with the Centre. The state government is making sincere efforts to help the farmers even though we are not empowered to announce the minimum support price Patil told reporters in Belagavi before visiting the protest site. </p><p>The Union sugar minister is from Karnataka but nobody is taking Pralhad Joshi’s name. Only Shivanand Patil is being targeted for not visiting the protest site. Nobody has pressured me not to visit the protest site he said replying to a query. </p><p>The chief minister has called a meeting of sugar mill owners on Friday. The farmers should not take law into their own hands. They should drop the highway block planned on Friday he appealed.</p>
<p>Belagavi: The agitating sugarcane growers on Thursday reluctantly agreed to give the state government a two-day deadline to address their eight-point demands, including fixing the sugarcane price at Rs 3,500 per tonne, following an appeal by Sugar Minister Shivanand Patil.</p>.<p>The minister faced the farmers’ ire when he visited the protest site. The farmers shouted slogans against the government and did not allow the minister to speak. A few farmer leaders, including Chunappa Pujari, appealed the protesters to let the minister speak.</p>.<p>Shivanand Patil appealed to agitating farmers, with folded hands, for two days to resolve the issues.</p>.<p>Addressing the farmers, the minister said, “I will not indulge in politics over farmer issues. This is a very sensitive issue. The country knows what you are capable of. Please stay calm and give us two days time to address your issues. I appeal to you to postpone your plans to block the highway by two days, the minister said.</p>.<p>The farmer leaders told the minister that they would give the government two days’ time, but not end their protest. “We will intensify our protest if the state government fails to fulfil our demands in two days,” the agitating farmers warned.</p>.Sugarcane farmers’ agitation: Siddaramaiah convenes meeting on Nov 7; seeks PM Modi's appointment.<p>Earlier in the day, the farmers staged a mock funeral of the sugar minister at Gurlapur Cross on the 8th day of the protest. They raised slogans against the minister and the government.</p>.<p>More than 25 religious heads and seers of the mutts in Belagavi district expressed their solidarity with the protesters. The seers, along with students of several schools and colleges, sat with the protesters at the site.</p>.<p>Mudalgi town witnessed complete shutdown on Thursday. The youths took out a bike rally from Mugalkhod to Gurlapur Cross.</p>.<p>Similar protests were witnessed at many taluks in Krishna basin districts, including Bailhongal, Ramdurg, Chennamana Kittur, Mudhol, Lokapur, Jamkhandi among others.</p>.<p>In Khanapur, lawyers boycotted court proceedings to extend their support to the ongoing agitation of the sugarcane growers.</p>.<p>The demands of the farmers of sugarcane-growing districts include fixing sugarcane price at Rs 3,500 per tonne, clearing bills within 15 days of cane supply, 12 hours of uninterrupted power supply, re-establishment of sugar commissionerate, bringing down sugar recovery costs among others.</p>.<p>Patil lobs the ball into Centre’s court </p><p>Sugar Minister Shivanand Patil on Thursday lobbed the ball to Centre’s court saying the Union government is empowered to fix the sugarcane price. </p><p>The power to fix the sugarcane price lies with the Centre. The state government is making sincere efforts to help the farmers even though we are not empowered to announce the minimum support price Patil told reporters in Belagavi before visiting the protest site. </p><p>The Union sugar minister is from Karnataka but nobody is taking Pralhad Joshi’s name. Only Shivanand Patil is being targeted for not visiting the protest site. Nobody has pressured me not to visit the protest site he said replying to a query. </p><p>The chief minister has called a meeting of sugar mill owners on Friday. The farmers should not take law into their own hands. They should drop the highway block planned on Friday he appealed.</p>
