Farmers of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts on Monday urged the State government through the deputy commissioner in Mysuru to consider loan waiver as done by the Telangana and Punjab governments since farmers are in a state of distress and facing a serious financial crisis due to drought.
They demanded full waiver of loans availed by farmers from about 6,040 cooperative institutions and the total loan amount of around ₹25,000 crore needed to be waived off, they demanded.
The members of Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association of Mysuru and Chamarajnagagar on Monday staged a demonstration in front of the deputy commissioner’s office and put forth their demands. They later submitted a memorandum with a list of demands.
In the ensuing budget, the government must allocate ₹950 crore for paying the dues (₹150 per tonne of sugarcane) outstanding since last year if it does not ensure the payment from the sugar factories that owe the amount. The onus is on the government to pay up the dues if it cannot make the factories pay up the dues to sugarcane growers, they argued.
As the harvest season is coming to a close, the State government, considering the FRP, should fix ₹4,000 for a tonne of sugarcane and an expert committee should be appointed to examine whether there was any discrepancy in the measurement of the yield, the memorandum submitted to the deputy commissioner said.
Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association president Hallikerehundi Bhagyaraj demanded that the State government should ask the banks not to issue notices to farmers for recovering loans given the drought. Notices are being issued in rural areas seeking repayment of loans from farmers when they are not in a position to make the payment because of the loss suffered by them due to drought, he said.
The farmers also demanded electricity connections to the new pump sets as many farmers were not able to get the supply from the ESCOM.
