Kolhapur: former MP Raju Shetti announced that the workers of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana will commence a strike on December 1 outside a sugar factory operated by NCP’s state chief, Jayant Patil, situated in Sangli district, reported The Times of India.
Speaking at a press conference in Islampur, Patil’s hometown, Shetti expressed concern that Patil’s sugar mill would benefit from the recently proposed sugarcane price, determined by millers in Sangli district on Sunday.
During the millers’ meeting, it was decided that farmers would be paid Rs 3,100 per tonne for the current season. Shetti contended that this amount falls below the recovery rate of sugar cane supplied to the factories owned by Patil and Congress MLA Vishwajeet Kadam. Recovery rate, in this context, refers to the quantity of sugar obtained after crushing 1 tonne of sugar cane.
Shetti asserted, “From December 1, we will launch a strike outside the Rajarambapu Cooperative Sugar Factory’s Sakhrale unit run by Patil. By the proposal the millers have framed, Patil will be saving Rs 36 crore and his sugar factories will be the biggest beneficiary.”
He highlighted a contrasting scenario in Kolhapur, where mills have agreed to pay an additional Rs 100 on top of the fair and remunerative price. Applying a similar formula, Shetti argued that factories owned by Patil and Kadam should be paying between Rs 3,200 to Rs 3,300 per tonne. This adjustment, he claimed, would prevent farmers from incurring losses amounting to Rs 110 crore.
In addition to the strike scheduled for December 1, Shetti stated that Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana’s workers would halt the transportation of sugarcane to the mills from Sangli district on November 28.
