Shetti rejects proposal to form panel under district collector
Kolhapur: Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetti has rejected the proposal put forth by district guardian minister Hasan Mushrif to break the stalemate between the farmers’ outfit and mill operators over sugar cane prices
To end the stalemate, Mushrif had called a meeting of the representatives of the farmers’ outfit, sugar millers and officials.
Mushrif, on behalf of the sugar millers, proposed the formation of a panel under district collector Rahul Rekhawar.
He said, “The panel will have representatives from both sides, which will scrutinise the accounts of the mills. If the mills were in a position to pay an additional amount to the farmers for the last season, I have guaranteed the millers to extend loan from the district central cooperative bank. For the current season, we have proposed that the mills should not pay less than Rs 3,100 per tonne to the farmers in one installment. Shetti has accepted the decision of constituting a panel which will complete the task in the next five days,” said Mushrif.
The Shetti-led protest has forced the sugar millers to shut their operations. The sugar millers categorically said they are not in a financial position to pay Rs 400 per tonne for the sugar cane crushed last year and if they were not allowed to start crushing, the mills would go bankrupt.
Mushrif said, “The mills from bordering districts of Karnataka are crushing thousands of tonnes of sugar cane daily. The sugar cane cutters are shifting to Karnataka as they are not getting work in Kolhapur district. The sugar industry in Kolhapur will be in serious problems if they do not start the crushing immediately.”
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Shetti categorically stated he has not accepted any proposal put forward by millers. “We have rejected forming the panel under the district collector. We are going to hold Chakka Jam Andolan on Sunday. We will continue to stop the sugar cane transport to the mills,” said Shetti.
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