From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Nov 23: Sugar may be sweet. But the cane growers and the State Government find the refusal of the owners of the Sugar Factories in Karnataka on payment of dues and amount above fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane growers a bitter pill to swallow.

A meeting convened by the JD(S)-Congress coalition government’s Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on resolving the tussle over the demands of sugarcane growers in Bengaluru on Thursday ended in failure without evolving any consensus.

Following the failure of the talks, the striking growers in Belagavi have decided to continue their dharna in the district.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy convened a meeting with factory owners and appealed to them to clear pending dues and enter into a formal agreement with growers on payment above the FRP in the year 2018-19.

The sugarcane growers are demanding Rs 200 above FRP for the current season.

A total of 31 factory owners, including Congress leaders and factory owners S R Patil, Anand Nyamagouda, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Satish Jarkiholi, BJP MLAs Balachandra Jarkiholi and Murugesh Nirani attended the meeting at the Chief Minister’s Home Office “Krishna’.

Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Belagavi’s Ghataprabha Cooperative Sugar Factory owner and MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi said factory owners sought 15 days to resolve the issue.
The FRP was fixed at Rs 2550 per tonne of cane in 2017-18 and Rs 2750 per tonne in 2018-19.

Jarkiholi said factories would not pay more than the FRP in the year 2018-19 since bumper crop was awaited.

As for last year’s dues, factory managements sought 15 days for assess their fiscal position.

The State Government’s records show that the factories have to pay dues of Rs 35 crore in 2017-18.

With the fall in sugar prices, Bagalkot factory owners agreed to pay Rs 250 per tonne of cane in 2017-18, an official press release said.

The Chief Minister told factory owners to enter into a formal agreement on the payment for the cane supplied in 2018-19.

He also asked the owners to mandatorily pay the FRP in 2018-19, said an official press release.

Kumaraswamy said factories are liable to pay regardless of the type of agreement - oral or written – and the State Government wants to ensure that justice was done to the sugarcane growers.