Hyderabad: Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has come to the fore demanding a rise in State Assured Price (SAP) for sugarcane even as the farmers' protest against the Captain Amarinder Singh government continues. Sidhu slammed the state government while Amarinder is scheduled to meet farmers' leaders Tuesday over sugarcane prices and clearance of pending dues.
Sidhu took to Twitter and drew comparisons between SAPs in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It should be noted that the Congress leader, who was at loggerheads in the recent past with Amarinder, made the comparison with Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.
"The sugarcane farmers issue needs to be immediately resolved amicably …. Strange that despite the higher cost of cultivation in Punjab the state assured price is too low as compared to Haryana / UP / Uttarakhand. As torchbearer of agriculture, the Punjab SAP should be better !" Sidhu tweeted.
Also read: Punjab: Sugarcane farmers to meet Amarinder Singh on Tuesday, traffic jam deferred
"Sugarcane farmers SAP has not increased since 2018, whereas input cost has increased by over 30%. Punjab model means policy interventions giving fair prices, equitable share in profits, diversification in production & processing to give more profits to both farmers & sugar mill," Sidhu wrote on the microblogging site.
"SAP should be immediately hiked as per farmers demands & pending dues should be released. Along with Modernization of Sugar Mills for higher productivity & production of high-value byproducts (ethanol, biofuel & electricity) for boosting profits of both Farmers and Sugar Mills."
The farmers' agitation in Punjab entered the fifth day Tuesday, disrupting rail services and road traffic. The Punjab government's announcement of Rs 15 per quintal hike for sugarcane was rejected by farmers a few days back. They are demanding an SAP of Rs 400 per quintal and clearance of their pending dues. Sugarcane rates were revised to Rs 325 for the early variety, Rs 315 for mid variety and Rs 310 per quintal for the late maturing variety by the government earlier.
The Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch of the Delhi-Amritsar national highway near Dhanowali village of Jalandhar district has been blocked by agitators. The Ludhiana-Amritsar and the Ludhiana-Jammu rail tracks in Jalandhar were also blocked by protestors.
Meanwhile, earlier reports stated that Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the farmers' union which spearheaded the agitation, was irked by Sidhu's "thirsty walks to the well" remark. SKM slammed his remark as "anti-farmer." There was also an instance of farmer protestors showing black flag against Sidhu.
