By IANS,
Lucknow : Bucking under pressure from sugarcane farmers who held a rally in Lucknow Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh government invited them for talks and asked officials to take necessary steps within two days for providing them an adequate price for their produce.
Led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) general secretary Rakesh Tikait, a section of farmers met Shailesh Krishna, the principal secretary to Chief Minister Mayawati, and other senior officials, and asked them to set a price of at least Rs. 215-220 for a quintal of sugarcane.
“They have assured us to take necessary steps for re-fixing the state advisory price (SAP) of sugarcane within two days,” Rakesh Tikait, who is also the BKU national spokesperson, told reporters in Lucknow.
“The state government has directed the divisional commissioners to hold talks with sugar mills officials in their divisions so that farmers get an adequate price for their produce,” he added.
Welcoming the state government’s move to invite them for talks, the BKU, however, made it clear that if the government failed to solve the issue within the stipulated time, sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh would sell their produce to Uttarakhand and Haryana.
“We are all set to divert our crops to the mills of Uttarakhand and Haryana, where the state farmers would get an adequate price for the produce. If the government today fails to take necessary steps, we will have no other option than to sell the produce to other states,” Tikait said.
The meeting between the farmers and the government officials continued for nearly two hours Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, armed with sugarcane stems, thousands of farmers from various parts of Uttar Pradesh arrived here in jam-packed trains to demonstrate against the sugarcane pricing policy of the state government.
BKU president Mahendra Singh Tikait also addressed a panchayat in Lucknow, where he called upon the farmers to continue fight for their rights till their demands were met.
“I just know that someone, senior officials or ministers should invite us for the talks to solve our problems,” he told reporters here at the Charbagh railway station.
“If it doesn’t happen, we will continue to fight for our rights,” the BKU chief added.
The BKU has asked farmers to send their crop to sugar mills in Uttarakhand, which have agreed to pay Rs.215-220 per quintal.
Rejecting the state’s declared support price of Rs.165-170 a quintal, sugarcane farmers across Uttar Pradesh have been on a warpath for two months, as they want at least Rs.220 per quintal for their produce.
On Nov 19, thousands of farmers from the state gathered in the national capital to raise the issue, which has figured several times in parliament as well.