Muzaffarnagar: Hundreds of laborers and farmers associated with the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU-Arajnaitik) embarked on a foot march in Muzaffarnagar, pressing for an increment in the sugarcane price to Rs 450 per quintal, reported The Times of India.
The protest, staged at the collectorate, commenced on Tuesday and extended into Wednesday. Farmers are questioning the government’s position, citing that jaggery-making units (Kolhu) are acquiring sugarcane at Rs 400 per quintal, while sugar mills persist in offering Rs 350 per quintal.
Dharmendra Malik, the national spokesperson of BKU-A, remarked, “Despite two months into the sugarcane crushing season in Uttar Pradesh, farmers remain uninformed about their sugarcane’s price.” He attributed the reduced sugarcane production this year to natural disasters and diseases, exacerbating the conflict between sugar mills and Kolhus over sugarcane. Currently, crushers are procuring sugarcane at Rs 400 per quintal. Farmers, in the hope of a price hike by the Uttar Pradesh government, continue to supply sugarcane to mills.
BKU-A workers, marching from Rampur Tiraha to Shiv Chowk, symbolically offered sugarcane at Lord Shiva’s statue before proceeding to the Collectorate, where they initiated a prolonged sit-in protest. Neeraj Pehalwan, the divisional president, emphasized the importance of determining the sugarcane price and highlighted the incomplete work in Purbaliyan village for the past 35 years.
Ankit Chaudhary, the district president, said they’ll continue the protest at the Collectorate until they get both the sugarcane price decided and the pending work in Purbaliyan village completed.
“To demand a fair increase in sugarcane prices, BKU is gearing up for a large-scale protest on January 5 across every district in UP,” stated Arjun Balyan, BKU-Tikait’s media in-charge.
He added, “The government made promises to farmers during the 2022 elections, but nearly two years have passed, and these pledges remain unfulfilled. BKU will press for various demands, including higher sugarcane prices, timely payments, free electricity, managing stray animals, fair land acquisition, and better crop prices. We will hand over a memorandum to the CM.”
