20 Nov : Bowing to Opposition pressure and to resolve the political deadlock, Government on Friday decided to bring forward a bill that will shift the burden of certain payments to farmers on sugarcane purchase from state governments to mills.
The government offer came at a meeting of all political parties to resolve the issue over which Parliament was stalled by the Opposition parties for two days as farmers converged on the capital on Thursday protesting against the Ordinance.
The State Advised Price (SAP) will be restored and the difference in payments to farmers over the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) will have to be paid by the sugar mills instead of the government under an amended provision in the controversial Ordinance, political leaders said after the meeting chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The controversial ordinance amending the Sugarcane (Control) Order, issued by the government recently, had put the burden on the difference in payment on the states which was objected to by the Opposition parties and ruling UPA constituent DMK.
A bill to replace the Ordinance that will be brought in Lok Sabha on Monday will contain the revised provision that will enable shifting the burden from the state governments to the mill owners.
Deputy Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and RLD leader Ajit Singh, who had spearheaded the farmers stir, welcomed the government decision.
Ajit Singh said “we are happy that the Government finally listened to farmers’ demands. It will certainly undo the damage caused by the Ordinance”.
The controversial Ordinance had replaced the SAP with FRP and the Government fixed the purchase price at Rs 129.84 a quintal for the current season.
A statement issued by Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal said the Ordinance clause relating to the difference between SAP and FRP has given rise to certain misgivings.
“It is proposed to delete the clause altogether. Consequently, if the state announces a SAP, it will be the responsibility of the sugar mills to pay the SAP to the farmers,” the statement said.
The decision has been conveyed to the leaders of the opposition parties at the meeting convened by Mukherjee, it said.Bansal said that the object of the Ordinance was to ensure that the farmers got a fair and just price for their sugarcane.
Hence, these provisions were included in the Ordinance, but they have created misgivings, the statement said.
Government agreed for the changes in the Ordinance in the wake of the opposition parties making it clear that they do not want it to shell out Rs 14,000 crore liability due to the sugar mills, but wanted it to ensure the interests of farmers.