No sweetness for sugarcane farmers by govt

Satish. B | NT

A high level of drama prevailed in the city as one of the sugarcane farmers, Chandrappa from Channapatna climbed a tree in an attempt to commit suicide at the Maharanis campus in Bengaluru on Friday. These farmers and members of the Rajya Kabbu Belegarara Sangha (Sugarcane farmers association) demand a hike in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) to Rs 3500/tonne for sugarcane.

Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar lashed out at the State government for adopting delaying tactics in announcing a higher FRP and said that though the Minister for Sugar Shankar Patil Munenakoppa had said a few days ago that the farmers will receive ‘’good news’’ there has been deafening silence and no announcement has been made. ‘’The farmers are being taken for a ride and cajoled to give up their agitation but we will not relent’, he added.