Cane farmers’ indefinite strike enters second day

Belagavi: The activists of Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha and Hasiru Sene led by Chunappa Pujeri, continued the indefinite protest on Tuesday.
The farmers who had blocked Channamma Circle for an hour on Monday, locked the main gate of the DC office on Tuesday and protested.
They are demanding Rs 5,500 per ton for sugarcane from sugar mills and are urging the government to instruct the mills that they should not start crushing until they announce the final price for the produce they receive from farmers.
The protestors had set up a kitchen on the DC office premises and were cooking food.
On Tuesday morning, they locked the main gate and staged a dharna outside it.
They are insisting that the sugar minister visit the spot. Even the efforts of deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil to convince the farmers did not yield any positive results.
Speaking to reporters, Chunappa Pujeri of the Raita Sangha said the government is inviting them to Bengaluru to discuss the issue.
He said they would not budge until government announces a fair price for sugarcane. He reiterated that the central government was cheating farmers in the name fair remunerative price (FRP), which hasn’t been increased even by 30% in the past 10 years. On the other hand, the cost of cultivation and prices of fertilizer have hiked multiple times, he said.