Kolhapur: Raju Shetti ends highway blockade as mills agree to effective Rs 4,200 per tonne
Raju Shetti called off the three-day farmers’ blockade in Kolhapur after sugar mill owners agreed to an effective sugarcane payment of ₹4,200 per tonne in three instalments. The settlement includes a conditional final payment linked to sugar prices, while farmers will receive 70% of additional gains above ₹4,500 per quintal.
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana founder Raju Shetti called off a highway blockade late on Thursday night, ending three day-long farmers’ agitation over sugarcane prices after sugar mill owners agreed to an effective payment of Rs 4,200 per tonne for cane.
The settlement emerged from talks between the farmers’ organisation and mill owners at the Kolhapur Collector’s office on Thursday evening. Under the mill owners’ proposal, farmers will receive Rs 3,900 per tonne as the first instalment and Rs 100 when the mill closes for the season.
The remaining Rs 200 is to be paid before the next crushing season begins, provided sugar prices remain stable at Rs 45 per kg. The final payment is therefore linked to sugar prices, which takes the total to Rs 4,200 per tonne.
The organisation had demanded that farmers receive the full Rs 4,200 in a single payment, or at most in two instalments. The three-instalment proposal was eventually accepted, though the report noted that the staggered payment has left some farmers dissatisfied.
Shetti said farmers would also receive a 70 per cent share of any additional amount if the price of sugar rises above Rs 4,500 per quintal, with mill owners retaining the remaining 30 per cent.
He said the organisation had expected to secure at least Rs 4,000 in one payment. While the instalments would mean farmers wait longer for their money, he said, continuing the agitation would only have increased the hardship faced by ordinary citizens.
Shetti said he was withdrawing the protest so that commuters stranded on the highway could celebrate Diwali, and so that police personnel could also spend the festival with their families. The agitation had left long lines of vehicles stretching along the highway from Pune to Nipani, and Shetti apologised to the affected commuters.
According to Shetti, it has also been decided to seek a similar settlement in Sangli and Satara districts, and the guardian ministers of those districts have been contacted. He expressed hope that the Chief Minister would intervene to help end the agitation in the remaining districts.
Shetti said the Collector would issue a formal written letter on the decision. After taking farmers into confidence, he announced the withdrawal of the blockade, and police cleared the toll plaza area within five minutes, allowing traffic to move again.
Earlier, after the meeting at the Collector’s office broke down, police reached the protest site late at night and served a notice on Shetti. He then held extended discussions with Additional Superintendent of Police Annasaheb Jadhav, Sub Divisional Police Officer Amol Thakur, Sub Divisional Officer Deepak Shinde and Tehsildar Sushilkumar Belhekar, following which he announced the decision to end the blockade.
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Source : ChiniMandi
