Cong farmers wing writes to party leaders owning sugar mills

Pushed by the agitation by sugarcane farmers, Karnataka Congress' farmers wing has written to party leaders who own sugar factories to clear the ryots' dues.

Farmers in Belagavi and other northern districts have been protesting for the last few days demanding clearance of their pending arrears by sugar factories for the cane suppliedand announcement of purchase price for sugarcane for thecurrent season as had been done in neighbouring Maharashtra.

The President of the state congress' Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress, Sachin Meega, shot off aletter to party leaders Ramesh Jarkiholi, Satish Jarkiholi,Shrimant Patil, S R Patil, S S Mallikarjun, Anand Nyamagouda and S S Malagam.

"Farmers have supplied sugarcane they have grown to your factories and money has got be deposited to them, but as the money given was lesser than what was fixed, farmers are indistress and are agitating across the state," Meega said in his letter.

He said, in this backdrop, the farmers' wing of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress requests the owners to pay the farmers their due, despite financial difficulties.

"We are aware that you face several constraints, including financial difficulties in running sugar factories, but at this point in time as protecting the interest of farmers being the priority, I request you to pay farmers their due," he added.

Driving trucks with sugarcane, a group of farmers