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Cane and unable
With farmers in Uttar Pradesh demanding a hike in the price of sugarcane, the issue has become a political battleground in the state. Rajesh Kumar Singh reports.
In Bareilly on October 29, some farmers' organisations met for a mahapanchayat (major assembly). Farmer leaders, including Mahendra Singh Tikait, Harikrishna Malik and V.M. Singh, called upon the Uttar Pradesh government to set the rate of sugarcane at Rs 280 per quintal (100 kg).
Bareilly is 350 km north of Lucknow.
This was followed by another mahapanchayat in Lucknow on December 1. "Farmers are illiterate. But that does not mean that the government should cheat us," Tikait said. The cost of inputs such as diesel, electricity, fertiliser, labour and seeds have multiplied, but the price of sugarcane had not been revised for years, he said. "Farmers will not rest until they get a fair price."
Farmers argue that the input cost for producing one quintal of sugarcane is more than Rs 230. Hence, the current structure of payment for sugarcane is not remunerative for them.
The trigger in the sugarcane price issue, which has become a political battleground in UP, has been the fair and remunerative price (FRP), introduced by the central government on October 21, replacing the statutory minimum price (SMP). The sugarcane price was fixed at Rs 130 per quintal. According to the FRP Ordinance, promulgated on October 21, the state government has to pay the differential between the state advised price (SAP) and the FRP. The FRP is to be paid by sugar mills.
Under the UP government's SAP, the rate of sugarcane was fixed at Rs 170 per quintal for high-quality cane and Rs 165 for common quality.
Terming the FRP Ordinance anti-farmer, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government in UP said that under the prevailing financial situation, it will not be possible for it to bear the difference between the FRP and SAP.
The clause in the Ordinance mandating payment by states has been dropped. The old system of mills paying SAP has been restored.
The sugarcane crop is now ready for harvesting. But with the state government showing no movement on farmers' demands, growers in Muzaffarnagar (in western UP) are burning crops. The Centre's decision to import sugar has angered farmers more, though imported sugar has not entered UP.
However, all the major parties in UP - the BSP, Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Bharatiya Janata Party and even Congress - are projecting themselves as champions of farmers' interests.
In the 2007 assembly election, the opposition political parties cornered the ruling SP over non-payment of arrears to sugarcane farmers. The farmers' organisations urged the SP government to clear arrears around Rs 1,050 crore due to growers. The delay in paying arrears was a factor in the SP losing power.
The RLD called a mahapanchayat in Meerut (451 km northwest of Lucknow) on November 5 and a statewide agitation from November 10 to 19. "If the government fails to address our grievances, we would march to Delhi," RLD President Chaudhary Ajit Singh said.
SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav too launched an agitation on the cane price issue on November 16. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the policy of the central as well as state government had ruined the farmers. "The rabi (winter crop) season had started but farmers are yet to start sowing as sugarcane is standing on an area of 100,000 hectares," he said.
BJP state unit president Rampati Ram Tripathi said the party workers were organising demonstrations in districts on the sugarcane issue. The party would put pressure on the government to set the price of cane at Rs 300 per quintal, he said "Though the RLD has withdrawn its chakka jam (road block) programme, we will keep a watch on the events and re-launch the agitation," said RLD leader Munna Singh Chauhan.
UP Congress Committee President Rita Bahuguna Joshi said due to the efforts of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, the Centre agreed to drop the offending clause in the Ordinance.
"The state government should increase the price to Rs 225 per quintal," she said.
On December 16, Congress workers, led by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, staged a protest at the Cane Commissioner's office in Lucknow, demanding hike in sugarcane prices. The Congress leader criticised the BSP government for "ignoring" the interests of cane farmers.
Mohammad Muzammil, economics professor at Lucknow University, said farmers had been the worst sufferers in the sugarcane price politics. "Disenchanted with sugarcane, they are now shifting to other crops," he said. "The situation is alarming as the area under sugarcane in UP is shrinking and sugar production has gone down."
Now the government has to import raw sugar, he said, adding that the agriculture sector works as a "cushion" for the whole economy. "If it is neglected, the whole economy will collapse."
