After more than 61 hours of road blockades that brought traffic on the Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway-48 to a grinding halt, sugarcane farmers in Maharashtra have called off their agitation following an agreement with sugar mill owners over cane prices. The settlement, reached late Thursday night, November 5, provides for payments of up to Rs 4,200 per tonne to farmers, bringing an end to the agitation led by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana under the leadership of Raju Shetti.
As reported by The Indian Express, the agreement was finalised at a meeting at the Kolhapur district collector’s office, attended by Maharashtra Minister Hasan Mushrif, representatives of sugar mill owners and members of the farmers’ organisation. Shetti, who had been demanding an initial payment of Rs 4,500 per tonne, agreed to the revised arrangement.
Under the formula, farmers will receive an initial payment of Rs 3,900 per tonne. An additional Rs 100 will be paid at the end of the crushing season, while the remaining Rs 200 will be disbursed before the next crushing season, subject to sugar prices remaining stable at Rs 45 per kg.
The agreement also includes a provision to ensure that farmers benefit if sugar prices rise. If prices exceed Rs 45 per kg, 70 per cent of the additional revenue will be passed on to sugarcane growers, with the remaining 30 per cent going to factory owners, Shetti said.
Following the agreement, Shetti announced the withdrawal of the agitation at the Kini toll plaza in Kolhapur and Nagthane in Satara at around 1 am on Friday, November 6. A strike scheduled for Friday was also called off. Traffic along the Pune-Satara-Kolhapur stretch of NH-48 subsequently began returning to normal.
Months of demands culminate in highway blockade
The agreement follows nearly two months of sustained protests by sugarcane growers, who had been demanding an initial payment of Rs 4,500 per tonne, arguing that the amount was necessary to secure a fair return for their produce.
The agitation escalated on November 3, when the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana launched road blockades at Nagthane in Satara district and the Kini toll plaza in Kolhapur district. As reported by The Indian Express on November 4, the protests disrupted traffic at several points along the highway, including Satara, Nagthane, Atit, Umbraj and Kini-Wathar. With both Mumbai-bound and Kolhapur-bound traffic affected, police were compelled to divert vehicles through interior village roads.
The blockade was not the organisation’s first attempt to press its demands. On October 13, farmers had blocked the highway at the Kognoli toll plaza on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border for more than 34 hours over the same issue.
The farmers’ demands extended beyond the immediate price of sugarcane. Shetti had also called for an increase in the minimum support price of sugar from Rs 31 per kg to Rs 50 per kg, arguing that the existing price structure did not adequately address growers’ concerns.
Speaking to the media during the November agitation, Shetti had criticised the state government and sugar mill owners for their failure to engage with the protesters despite the prolonged blockade. He pointed out that farmers had remained on the roads for over 24 hours without any official visiting them to hear their demands.
The protest had also received political support. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, who represents Karad in Satara district, backed the agitation, accusing the state government and sugar factory owners of repeatedly ignoring farmers’ demands despite two months of protests.
Related:
“It Is Not Just Numbers”: Prakash Raj on the Exclusion of 13.6 Crore Indians | SIR | Teesta Setalvad
Diwali travel rush exposes unchecked profiteering by private bus operators as fares soar to Rs 7,000
From Arunachal to Delhi, anti-dam protesters face state crackdown; detained allege sexual assault