Bangaluru: After days of continuous agitations by sugarcane farmers in Beagavi, fresh protests erupted in Suvarna Sada district, where a group of farmers tried to barge in with truck-loads of their produce on Sunday.
Farmers of a few districts in north of Karnataka have been taking to the streets since November 15, demanding clearance of their earlier arrears, as well as seeking a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugarcane. They have also threatened to disrupt the upcoming winter session of the assembly, which is likely to begin by the first week of December and will take place in Belagavi.
Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, during a visit to Bidar on Friday, tried to take hold of the situation and said that he would hold a series of meetings with the farmers. Adding that he wished to resolve the farmers' problems at the earliest, Kumaraswamy called for a meeting with the agitating farmers in Bengaluru on November 20.
Farmer leaders however, insisted that the chief minister visit Belgavi and hold talks with them in the northern district, as it was expensive for them to make a trip to the capital city. Farmers have been sitting on a dharna outside the district commissioners office in an effort to highlight their plight.
Cabinet minister Ramesh Jarkiholi's Saubhagya Lakmshmi Sugars is among the many mills which have defaulted on payments to farmers. Even though the ambitious farm loan waiver is yet to reach debt-ridden farmers, the chief minister's office has assured that the roll-out would begin by November-end.
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