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As sugarcane farmers across the country strengthened their protest demanding better price for their produce, the issue is now assuming political overtones ahead of the winter session of Parliament, scheduled to begin next week.
While the Bahujan Samaj Party, the principal Opposition in Uttar Pradesh, has accused both the Centre and State Governments of colluding with the mill , the Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has suggested a complete ban on raw sugar import as a way out of the current crisis.
Singh tried to absolve the industry for not starting crushing operations during the current sugar season (October-September), saying mills cannot afford to pay remunerative prices to farmers given the present sugar realisations. “The Government of India must act quickly and decisively,” Singh tweeted, demanding incentives for export of sugar. Sources in the Food Ministry, however, said there was no move to ban import at the moment. “The quantity of import is very minimal. We do not think this is the reason for the present crisis,” a senior Ministry official told Business Line .
Senior BSP MP Brajesh Pathak told Business Line that his party had ensured that farmers got their entire State Advisory Price (SAP) payments. “Growers were happy and there were no dues. But now, mills owe them thousands of crores in arrears for even the previous season. The SP and the UPA Governments are competing to protect the interests of mill owners,” Pathak claimed.
The Left parties blamed the economic policies of the UPA for the current sugar impasse . “The deregulation of the sector and the import of 17 million tonnes of sugar by traders and refineries in the current financial year led to the current fall in prices from Rs 36 to Rs 26 (per kg) in the domestic wholesale market,” CPI(M)’s farmers’ outfit, Kisan Sabha, said in a statement.
It said the Centre was not willing to enhance the import tariff on sugar to 40 per cent from the current 15 per cent despite pleas from farmers and the industry. “Around Rs 10,500 crore is the arrears due to farmers by the sugar mills in major sugar production states. Majority of such private mills are owned by politicians turned businessmen belonging to the Congress and BJP,” it said, demanding Rs 3,600 a tonne SAP .
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