Farmers' groups to block Karad-Chiplun highway at Navarasta on Sunday over unannounced cane price

The sugarcane price issue in Satara district remains unresolved. Farmers' organisations have turned aggressive because the sugar factories have not yet announced their prices. They have announced a chakka jam (road blockade) on the Karad-Chiplun national highway at Navarasta at 1 pm on Sunday, 15 November. The organisations gave this information at a joint press conference in Patan.

A coordination meeting of farmers' organisation representatives and sugar factory owners was held at the Satara Collector's office under Guardian Minister Shambhuraj Desai. The factory owners were given two days to announce their prices. The deadline has passed, but not a single factory has announced a price. That is why the organisations have again taken the path of agitation.

The agitation includes the Baliraja Shetkari Sanghatana, the Shetkari Sanghatana, the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, the Rayat Kranti Sanghatana and other farmers' organisations. The organisations say cane-growing farmers of the taluka are waiting for a price, but the factory owners are not taking a clear stand on announcing one.

The organisations had earlier announced an agitation at Navarasta over the cane price. However, that agitation, planned for 8 November, was put off for the time being in view of the Diwali festival. Discussions at the government level followed, and a coordination meeting was called under the Guardian Minister.

The organisations say the agitation will draw the attention of the factory owners and the government to farmers' pending issues. They say the cane price issue is not limited to Patan taluka, and concerns the economic future of cane-growing farmers across Satara district. Farmers have therefore been urged to join the fight together.

Present at the press conference were Chandrakant Yadav, Satara district president of the Baliraja Shetkari Sanghatana; Prashant Patil, Patan taluka president of the Shetkari Sanghatana; Vikas Kadam, Satara district youth president of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha; and Tatya Patil, western Maharashtra president of the Shetkari Sanghatana. Also present were Sunil Koli, district vice-president of the Baliraja Shetkari Sanghatana; Balasaheb Shinde, district vice-president of the Shetkari Sanghatana; Uttam Salunkhe, district president of the Krantikari Shetkari Sanghatana; Vishal Pustake, Karad taluka vice-president of the Rayat Kranti Sanghatana; Kashinath Shirke, Patan taluka vice-president of the Shetkari Sanghatana; and other office-bearers.

Chandrakant Yadav said the chakka jam at Navarasta on Sunday, 15 November, was not for any political interest but for farmers' rightful dues. According to him, all farmers' organisations have come together this year to get farmers a fair price on the lines of the Kolhapur pattern. He said their struggle would not stop until the price was announced and farmers got justice. He appealed to all cane growers, cooperative society members and well-wishers of farmers to join the agitation in large numbers.

Prashant Patil, Patan taluka president of the Shetkari Sanghatana, questioned the government's approach. He said that in drought conditions the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister are asking financial institutions not to press farmers for loan recovery. On the other hand, he said, the government's Water Resources Department appears to be pressing farmers to pay overdue irrigation charges. Patil said that if this double standard did not end, they were capable of giving a tit-for-tat reply.