Shetti ups the ante against MVA government

PUNE: The Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has decided to launch another agitation against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government – of which it is a part – over fair remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane

PUNE: The Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has decided to launch another agitation against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government – of which it is a part – over fair remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.

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The MVA government gave feedback to the central government that sugarcane farmers in the state will get their FRP for sugarcane in one year even as Shetti opposed the same and demanded that the FRP be given in a single installment. Shetti has now launched a campaign and appealed farmers to give a missed call on the number 8448183751 if they support getting the FRP in a single installment.

“The campaign is scheduled between September 12 and 30. Within a single day on September 12, we got over 1 lakh missed calls. We are hoping to get a huge response as we used social media as tool. We will submit this data to the central government and even add it to my petition which is in the Supreme Court,” Shetti said.

“I am fighting for the farmers. I quit the BJP alliance as they did not resolve farmers’ issues. We were hoping that this government will take a decision in the interest of farmers. But when the central government sought feedback about paying farmers the FRP in two months, the MVA government without thinking of the farmers, gave the feedback in the interest of the sugar industry and asked that the FRP be paid in a year instead of over two months,” Shetti said.

Earlier this month, Shetti undertook the Panchaganga parikrama and threatened to take a jal samadhi while demanding financial assistance for flood-affected farmers. Following the agitation, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with him and assured the farmer-leader that the government will look into his demand.