Supporters of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader and Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti Monday went on the rampage within the precincts of the Sakhar Sankul (Sugar Commissionerate) to highlight the issue of non-payment of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) by sugar factories in the state. While Shetti blamed the state government for “going soft” on the sugar factories, Minister for Cooperatives Chandrakant Patil said proper legal process was followed and Shetti should desist from taking law into his hands. Pricing and payment of FRP for sugarcane has always been a politically tricky issue for the state with farmers led by Shetti and other leaders pitching their luck against the powerful sugar barons. With Shetti’s SSS part of the government now, the start of the sugarcane crushing season has been relatively peaceful. Shetti had demanded Rs 2,650 per tonne of sugarcane as the first instalment price, but sugar mills have cited their inability to pay the same given the “slump” in the sugar industry. On Monday, a delegation of over 100 farmers led by Shetti and his close aide Sadabhau Khot congregated at the office of Sugar Commissioner Vipin Sharma to agitate against non-payment of the FRP. Khot said they wanted to speak to Sharma but he failed to meet them on time. Angered by this, the farmers went on a rampage smashing flower pots and breaking glass panes of the office. Shetti said the government was not interested in solving the issue of payment to farmers. “None of the of the factories has paid the FRP, yet the government machinery has not taken action,” he said. Khot said the government had not given them time to discuss the matter. “The chief minister has time for (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar but not for us,” he said. Asked about the destruction of public property, Khot said the office was constructed out of tax payers’ money. Patil said the state government had already issued legal notices to 119 sugar factories in the state for non-payment of FRP. “Legal notices had been issued to the sugar mills that have not paid FRP and the legal process was being completed in the last 70 days.. This is a lengthy process and takes time. In the next three days, all the mills that have not paid FRP will be issued notices again and called to give explanations before the office of the sugar commissioner. In case their answers are not satisfactory, the sugar from their factories will be sealed and auctioned to pay for the FRP arrears,” he said. Registering FIRs against the mill owners would be the last legal step, he added. The minister appealed to all farmer organisations to refrain from letting their agitation take a violent turn and said solutions should be sought amicably. Ruling out any bailout package for the mills, Patil said the excise waiver of Rs 2,100 crore was already sanctioned this year. “We had asked the mills to take a loan of Rs 2,000 crore at 12 per cent from the State Cooperative Bank which the mills had refused and asked for an interest-less loan instead. The state government is not in a position to give subsidies of that kind at this moment,” he said. As of January 9, a total of 362.09 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane was crushed and 381.4 lakh quintals of sugar produced in the state. The Pune city police arrested Shetti and Khot along with 140 activists for going on the rampage, damaging vehicles and public property and causing disruption in government work. On the complaint of Assistant Director, Sakhar Sankul, S S Shinde, the police booked the activists under Sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 353, 332, 432, 427 of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Damage to Public Property Act. They were later produced before court, which granted them bail. The Sugar Commissionerate may send a notice to Shetti and his supporters for damaging property worth over Rs 5 lakh at the Sakhar Sankul to recover the cost of the broken glass panes. Joint Director Ashok Gade said the commissionerate had sent notices to those damaged its property in the past. “We haven’t finalised our decision, but since we had in the past issued notices to people who damaged our property, we will consider the same this time too.” Shetti’s supporters, mainly farmers, smashed almost all the glasses on the ground floor of the commissionerate using sugarcane stumps. A woman worker collecting the shards sustained injuries in the process. Officials said it was important to recover the damages, otherwise every other protesting group would resort to this kind of hooliganism.
