The Karnataka sugarcane farmers’ protest moved towards a possible resolution after Union Minister Pralhad Joshi held a late-night meeting with farmer leaders in Hubballi and assured them that the Centre would respond positively to their key demands. The farmer representatives, however, said they would decide their next course of action after consulting the wider farming community.
The meeting was held at the Tourist Rest House in Hubballi from 1.15 am to 3.10 am on Sunday night. Joshi attended the discussions along with MP Jagadish Shettar and MLAs C.C. Patil, M.R. Patil and Mahesh Tenginakai. Belagavi Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Roshan, Dharwad Deputy Commissioner R. Snehal, CID Deputy Inspector General Bhimashankar Guleda, Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Bhushan Borase and Dharwad Superintendent of Police Gunjan Arya were also present.
Farmer leaders Shashikant Guruji, Chunappa Pujari, Rajendra Gadadari, Nitin Mageri, Prem Chougula, Mahalingappa Teli, Mallappa Angadi and Kishan Nandi presented the demands raised by sugarcane growers during the meeting.
Among the principal demands was an increase in the minimum support price for sugarcane. The farmer representatives also demanded that all ethanol produced in Karnataka be purchased and that commercial-use sugar and household-use sugar be classified separately, with a higher price fixed for sugar supplied for commercial use.
Responding to the demands, Joshi said the Union government would respond positively and that the issues would be placed before a central committee in an effort to find a solution. He said the committee would begin work within two or three days and appealed to the farmers to cooperate with the process.
After the meeting, farmer leader Chunappa Pujari said the farmer community would meet at Tegur in Dharwad at 11 am on Monday. The meeting would discuss the details of the negotiations with Joshi, gather the views of farmers and decide the future course and structure of the protest.
According to the report, the meeting between the minister and the farmer leaders was conducted in a cordial atmosphere. The farmer representatives were also informed that the protest would have to be stopped if the central committee was to visit Karnataka. The farmer leaders responded positively to that proposal, although the final decision was to be taken after consultation with the wider farming community.
The immediate next step is the farmers’ meeting at Tegur, where the community is expected to decide whether to suspend the protest and participate in the committee-led process.
