Belagavi: Farmers vow to continue stir till Union government assures of MSP revision

Vehicles stopped at the toll plaza in Hire Bagewadi, Belagavi district, on Tuesday during a rasta roko protest by farmers. | Photo Credit: P.K. BADIGER

Farmers associations said in Belagavi on Tuesday (October 13) that they would not withdraw their protest till Pralhad Joshi, Union Food Minister, gave a concrete assurance of revising the minimum selling price for sugar within a week.

“All the organisations working with sugarcane farmers, the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Hasiru Sene, Kabbu Belegarara Okkoota, and Samyukta Kisan Morcha have resolved to not move out of the protest sites till the Minister sends us a clear message. We will not be convinced by hollow promises,’’ farmer leader Shashikant Padasalagi Guru told reporters in Hire Bagewadi.

“We are trying to build an inter-State network of farmers’ organisations as it does not concern only the farmers of Karnataka, but all the five crore sugarcane growers in the country. We have received a message of solidarity from Rakesh Tikait and other leaders from U.P. and Punjab. Some of them will join the protest in a day or two,’’ he said.

He accused Mr. Joshi of telling lies before the media about farmers not submitting their demands well in advance.

Farmers sitting on the Pune–Bengaluru national highway in Hire Bagewadi in Belagavi district on Tuesday during the protest. | Photo Credit: P.K. BADIGER

“Representatives of various farmers organisations had met Mr. Joshi at his residence in Hubballi eight months ago and submitted a memorandum to revise the minimum selling price of sugar, which has remained at ₹31 for nine years now, and the sugarcane fair and remunerative price, which has stayed below the cost of cultivation. But he lied to reporters, saying we had never met him. He could have easily said he had forgotten the meeting or misplaced our memorandum. But he did not. I think that is deliberate,” he said.