New Delhi:
So what's the story behind the sugarcane farmers' protests?
- Sugarcane prices in UP are fixed by both the Centre and the State.
- The state price, called the state advised price (SAP), was recently announced for a normal crop as Rs. 165 per quintal of sugarcane.
- The Centre then introduced the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), which they fixed at Rs. 130 per quintal, much lower than the state price and the at least Rs 170 per quintal expected by sugarcane farmers.
- Also the Centre said that in case the SAP (i.e. the state's price) is higher than the FRP, then the state government will have to compensate the difference to the farmers.
- Which essentially means a drain on the cash-strapped state exchequer -- something that Mayawati has already complained about and shot off a letter to the Prime Minister asking for a rethink on this concept.