The recent omission of Section 5A from the Sugarcane (Control) Order has come under severe criticism from the sugarcane growers in the country. The farmers feel their rights have been curtailed by the amendment.
According to the amendment, sugar mills are no longer bound to share 50 per cent extra realisation at the end of the sugar year with farmers. Instead, they are required to pay the fair and remunerative price (FRP) fixed by the Centre through this amendment recently. The government announced an FRP of Rs 129.84 a quintal, which is 20.4 per cent more than the statutory minimum price (SMP) of Rs 107.76 a quintal fixed earlier this year.
Farmers, however, feel that the omission of Section 5A deprives them of their rightful gains. According to the earlier regulation, mills had to pay an advance amount mutually agreed between the mill and farmers at the beginning of the crushing season and share their profits with farmers after drawing a final balance sheet at the end of the season. With this, they were getting little extra and above the SMP.
However, the mill owners do not agree with this argument and think that the introduction of FRP is beneficial to farmers, as they will get higher price for their produce at the beginning of the year.
Kurubur Shanthkumar, president, Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association, said farmers from the state are joining hands with the Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Associations and staging protest march in front of the Parliament on November 19 to protest against the amendment of the Sugarcane Control Order and removal of Section 5A from the order.
Sugarcane farmers from all across the country are gathering in New Delhi on November 19 to lay siege to the Parliament. “We have already given a memorandum to the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in this regard, but so far no action has been taken in favour of the farmers,” Shanthkumar added.
