Protesting Sugarcane Farmers Lathi-Charged in Maharashtra's Solapur

Solapur:

Nearly 500 sugarcane farmers, demanding that they be paid for their produce according to the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) set by the Centre, were lathi-charged by police in Solapur today as they tried to present a memorandum to Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil.

Mr Patil, the BJP MLA from Kolhapur, holds the Co-operation portfolio along with Marketing and Textiles and Public Works (Excluding Public Undertakings).

The protest was led by the Kisan Janhit Sangathana and the farmers were lathi-charged when they tried to block his car.

"We are demanding that we be paid according to the FRP for the last six months. But our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. We have to bring our plight before the government," said Bhaiyya Deshmukh, President of the Kisan Janhit Sangathan.

The police say they were forced to disperse the mob as they forcefully tried to top the minister's car.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the FRP of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the 2015-16 sugar season to be fixed at Rs 230 per quintal. The FRP is the minimum price that sugarcane farmers are legally guaranteed.

The FRP is fixed after taking into consideration the margins for sugarcane farmers, based on the cost of production of sugarcane, including the cost of transportation.

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Maharashtra is one of the largest sugar producing states in the country and western Maharashtra is a major sugar producing belt.