Swabhimani body halts cane cutting and transport in Khatav, demands rate announced at sugarcane conference

The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has said that cane cutting and transport will not be allowed to begin for any sugar factory in Khatav taluka until the cane rate announced at the sugarcane conference is paid.

Led by the organisation's state working president Anil Pawar and Khatav taluka president Dattu Kaka Gharge, office-bearers went directly into farmers' cane fields in different villages of the taluka and began a campaign to stop transport. As a result, cane transport and cutting have come to a halt in several places.

Office-bearers reached the fields of farmers in Gopuj, Wakalwadi, Nayakachi Wadi, Nimsod, Ambawade, Hingane, Dalmodi, Chitali and Mayani. The organisation said that receiving the rate announced at the sugarcane conference is the farmers' right, and that cane should not be sent to factories until the rate issue is resolved.

Those transporting cane were only persuaded and appealed to stop. Taluka president Dattu Kaka Gharge warned that the agitation would be intensified if transport continued in disregard of the farmers' demand.

Gharge said, "Today we are persuading those who transport cane. But if the agitation intensifies tomorrow, the responsibility will lie with the administration of the factory concerned. Do not transport cane until the cane rate issue is resolved. Do not test the patience of the farmers."

The organisation has demanded that the managements of the sugar factories concerned, including Sonhira, Ajinkyatara, Shivneri, Vardhan (Padal), Khatav and Jarandeshwar, immediately clarify their position on the rate announced at the sugarcane conference.

Office-bearers also warned that if attempts were made to keep transport going until the rate issue is settled, the agitation would be taken to the point of stopping the factories' crushing. The organisation is firm on its demand that farmers' cane get the right rate, and it has been made clear that the agitation will not be withdrawn until the rate issue is resolved.

While the organisation has taken to the streets to secure the right rate for farmers' cane, farmers have also been appealed to back the agitation. Office-bearers said, "The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has taken to the streets for your rights. If cane cutting stops for two or four days for the rate that is rightfully yours, what will be lost? It is more important that the cane gets the right rate than to avoid temporary inconvenience. Farmers should set aside their differences and show unity."

Office-bearers are campaigning village by village. Santosh Nikam spoke to farmers in the Hingane area and Anil Kachare in the Chitali area, while youth taluka president Vijay Devkar spoke to farmers in the Banpuri and Yeralwadi areas. They explained the organisation's stand on the cane rate and appealed to farmers to stop cane cutting.

The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has resolved to keep up the heat of the agitation in Khatav taluka until the cane rate issue is settled. Cane-growing farmers of Khatgun, Yeliv, Umbarde, Gopuj and Banpuri have given the agitation their unanimous support.