UP blames FRP for farmers' agitation

The Uttar Pradesh government has blamed the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane announced by the Centre for the ongoing agitation by cane farmers in western parts of the state.

“The farmers are agitated over FRP and it is the duty of the Centre to withdraw it immediately,” said state cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh at a news conference.

While the Centre had announced FRP at Rs 130 per quintal, the State Advised Price (SAP) of cane stands at Rs 165 for common variety and Rs 170 for the early maturing variety.

“The state government has announced a record hike of Rs 25 per quintal for this crushing season over last year,” he added. Last year, SAP stood at Rs 140 per quintal.

Singh expressed hope the issue would be resolved amicably in the meeting of UP sugar millers and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

“Mr Pawar is holding a meeting with sugar mill owners and the state government is looking forward to an amicable resolution of the issue,” he said adding the sugar mills would start crushing soon.

Farmers in western UP, especially Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnore, Moradabad and Ghaziabad protested on the issue of cane price and resorted to ‘chakka jam’. Several trains were stopped by protesting farmers recently.

The cabinet secretary reiterated there was no restriction on any mill to pay over and above the SAP, which had been fixed after considering the economic viability of the sugar sector.

He maintained the government was with the cane farmers and the respective district magistrates had been asked to resolve their genuine grievances.

To buttress his point, he referred to the letter written by chief minister Mayawati to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month urging the Centre to withdraw FRP.

Commenting on farmers’ protest, Singh informed the agitation passed-off peacefully without any untoward incident.