Raju Shetti warns of protests if sugar mills fail to make one-time payments
Shetti, along with other farmer leaders, met the sugar commissioner in Shivajinagar and urged officials to ensure that sugar factories comply with the court’s order
Farmers’ leader and former MP Raju Shetti on Tuesday warned of protests outside the Sugar Commissioner’s office in Pune if sugar mills fail to make one-time payments to sugarcane farmers as directed by the high court.
Shetti, along with other farmer leaders, met the sugar commissioner in Shivajinagar and urged officials to ensure that sugar factories comply with the court’s order.
Recently, Shetti won a case against the Maharashtra government, the Central government, and the Sugar Commissioner over the issue of sugar mills paying farmers in a single installment instead of multiple stages.
Shetti claimed that farmers traditionally received a one-time Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) payment for their sugarcane. However, in 2022, sugar factories convinced the state government to amend the law, linking payments to sugar production per tonne of cane. This allowed mills to pay farmers in stages instead of a single payment.
“We opposed this change and moved the Bombay High Court, demanding a return to the previous system where payments were made in full based on the past year’s average sugar production per tonne,” Shetti said.
He said that the case faced delays in the High Court, prompting him to write to the Supreme Court, sarcastically suggesting that judges should also receive their salaries in installments. “Soon after that letter, our case was expedited, and on March 17, 2025, the High Court ruled in our favour,” he said.
The court scrapped the Maharashtra government’s decision and directed the enforcement of the Central government’s policy, ensuring that farmers receive their payments in a single installment.