The sugarcane politics has virtually put the Uttarakhand government in a bind. With the Centre announcing its fair and remunerative price (FRP), the state government is unable to announce its own state advised price (SAP), which might delay the crushing season also. The crushing season, which normally begins in the first fortnight of November, may now be delayed by another 15 to 20 days.
After Uttar Pradesh announced its SAP, the pressure built up on the Uttarakhand government to make a matching announcement. But this did not happen owing to the FRP which puts the burden on the state government in case its SAP is similar to the neighbouring state, which stands at Rs 162-170. The Centre’s FRP is far less, which is close to Rs 129.84 per quintal. The difference of SAP and FRP has to be paid by the state government according to the new amendment of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
On the other hand, farmers are agitated over the non-declaration of the SAP, which they demand should be Rs 200-250 per quintal.
“We are in a Catch-22 situation. We have to discuss all those issues before taking a final decision,” said a top government official. For the SAP, the state government has already constituted an expert committee which has held three meetings in Dehra Dun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts pending the final decision.