Shivakumar told not to engage in scaring sugarcane farmers

On Sunday, Kurbur Shantakumar, president of the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association, met with protesters in Yerikoppa, near Dharwad. He urged ministers and legislators to forgo their salaries and allowances to compensate drought-affected farmers. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar's claims that sugar factories would close if they accepted farmers' demands for higher prices for sugarcane were described as "scaremongering" by Shantakumar.

He called for the Union and State governments not to dismiss the farmers' movement, nor to politicize issues such as the hike in sugar or sugarcane prices. Shantakumar advocated for the Union government to permit differential pricing of sugar and enforce the Sugar Control Order of 1966, which mandates profit-sharing with farmers from selling sugar byproducts.

He proposed increasing the FRP for sugarcane by at least ₹4,500 per tonne with a sugar recovery rate of 10.25%. The State government should distribute its tax gains to farmers by paying ₹800 per tonne of sugarcane, similar to the Tamil Nadu government. Shantakumar also demanded immediate drought relief for all farmers who experienced crop losses, including waiving all farm loans and stopping forced loan recovery by private banks and agencies.

He urged all Ministers and legislators to donate their salaries and wages, with a minimum of ₹25,000 per acre as compensation for drought-affected farmers.