The Hindu : Karnataka News : Agitating sugarcane growers lock up government offices

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Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Agitating sugarcane growers lock up government offices

Staff Correspondent

They are demanding compensation for uncrushed produce

Growers will go on a hunger strike from January 26 if the compensation is not released by then
In-charge Deputy Commissioner says everything will be solved by January 25

Assurance: In-charge Deputy Commissioner D.B. Naik addressing the agitating sugarcane growers in Bijapur on Monday.

INDI (BIJAPUR DISTRICT): The sugarcane growers who have been agitating for the last five days seeking immediate release of the promised compensation for uncrushed crops locked up government offices here on Monday.

Hundreds of growers, gathered on the premises of the tahsildar’s office and declared that they would not allow government offices to function till their demands were met. They also locked up other offices in the vicinity.

Opposition Leader in the zilla panchayat Pachappa Kalburgi, who is in the forefront of the agitation, criticised the Government for “not keeping its word” even after a lapse of six months.

Mr. Kalburgi said that growers would go on an indefinite hunger strike from January 26 if the Government failed to release the compensation by then. He also demanded that sugar factories which have deducted additional transportation cost and Rs. 100 on every tonne of sugarcane crushed after April 15 as low sugar recovery charge from the growers, should return the same.

It may be recalled here that there was excess sugarcane production in the district particularly in Indi and Sindagi taluk last year. When sugarcane grown in an area of over 48,000 acres remained uncrushed, growers agitated during April and May. The Government announced a compensation of Rs. 10,000 for an acre of uncrushed sugarcane. After conducting a survey of the uncrushed sugarcane area, the district administration sought Rs. 48 crore for disbursement among affected growers. However, the Government has released only Rs. 5.8 crore so far.

The Government had also said that it would reimburse transportation charges if the sugarcane was transported beyond 50 km and give Rs. 100 incentive on every tonne of sugarcane that was crushed after April 15 to make up for the low sugar recovery rate. In most cases, the Government directly released the sum to sugar factories though the later had already deducted the cost from the growers.

Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat D.B. Naik, who is also the in-charge Deputy Commissioner, called on the agitators and said the administration was doing everything possible to get the compensation quickly.

Mr. Naik said that he was in constant touch with the Government and the concerned file was before the Finance Department. Once it was cleared, the disbursement would not take much time. He hoped everything would be solved by January 25. With regard to additional transportation charge and low sugar recovery charge, he said he had already directed the factories concerned to pass on the benefits to growers. Hence he was appealing to the growers to end their agitation.

However, Mr. Kalburgi said the agitation would continue till the growers actually received the compensation.

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