PONDA: The farmers have threatened to stage an agitation on February 6, if, before then, the government fails to give them an assurance that it would operate the next crushing season at Sanjivani Sugar Factory.
Since the Sanjivani Sugar Factory is not operated this crushing season, the farmers have been sending their harvest to a factory in Karnataka. However, the farmers are determined not to send their sugarcane, next season, to Karnataka as they are facing various difficulties.
The farmers claim that the chief minister had assured to fulfil all their demands, but most of their demands have not been fulfilled yet. The farmers’ demand for a higher price for their harvest has also not been fulfilled till date.
Harshad Prabudesai, an office bearer of Sanjivani Sugarcane Farmers Association, said that the farmers were assured by the government that their bills would be cleared within fifteen days. “But this promise also has not been fulfilled. The bills for January are not cleared. We are struggling to survive under such situations. There is no effort to increase sugar cane production. Our survival has become difficult due to negligence of the government,” he said.
He informed that till date 18,000 tonnes of sugarcane have been sent to a Karnataka based factory. “Now, more than 10,000 tonnes of sugarcane is yet to be harvested and send to Karnataka. But the farmers are worried whether it could be completed before the end of February as assured to us by the Government, because very few team of workers are available for harvesting sugarcane,” he said.
In absence timely payments, the workers hired for cutting sugarcane are returning to their native places. Thus, the farmers are worried that if the situation continues, no farmer would be in a position to cultivate sugarcane in the next season as it requires lot of money.
Therefore, the farmers are demanding that Sanjivani Sugar Factory operate the next crushing season.
