Raju Shetti meets Balasaheb Patil in Karad, submits demands ahead of crushing season
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetti sought Balasaheb Patil's support and submitted demands including Rs 500 per tonne aid for cane growers.
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader and former MP Raju Shetti met former Cooperation and Marketing Minister Balasaheb Patil in Karad. The meeting took place at Patil's contact office in Karad. Patil is also chairman of the Sahyadri Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana.
The state government has ordered this year's crushing season to begin on October 15. Against this background, Shetti has begun a tour to meet sugar mill owners across the state. The Karad meeting is part of that tour.
The Centre and the state government have to be pursued for policy decisions to revive the sugar industry and secure justice for cane growers. Shetti requested Patil's cooperation in this agitation.
During the meeting, Shetti submitted a memorandum of his demands to Patil. According to the demands, if the crushing season begins on October 15, recovery from the cane will fall, causing heavy losses to both farmers and mills. The memorandum therefore demands that the Centre and the state government give cane-growing farmers a subsidy of Rs 500 per tonne.
The memorandum lists further demands. It asks that the minimum support price (MSP) of sugar be raised to Rs 50 per kg and that the selling price of C-heavy ethanol be fixed at Rs 70 per litre. It notes that with the ban on ethanol production, the burden of loan instalments and interest on the mills' projects will increase. It therefore demands a scheme offering interest relief and an extension of instalments for the entire year.
Patil welcomed Shetti with a bouquet. Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana's Satara district president Devanand Patil, vice-president Dadasaheb Yadav, Karad North taluka president Pramod Jagdale, Karad South taluka president Bapusaheb Salunkhe and Ramchandra Salunkhe were present, along with other office-bearers of the organisation.
Balasaheb Patil has said earlier as well that the government's decision to start sugar mills on October 15 is wrong. He holds that sugar matures only between November 15 and March 15.
