Centre lacks practical understanding, says Savadi

CHIKKODI Former Deputy Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Laxman Savadi launched a scathing attack on the Central Government regarding its handling of the escalating crisis faced by sugarcane growers. Speaking to the media in Athani, Savadi challenged Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s assertion that the recent high-level talks in New Delhi were successful, pointing out the stark contradiction that farmers across Karnataka continue to stage aggressive day-and-night street protests and highway blockades out of utter frustration. Savadi criticized the central administration for possessing a fundamental disconnect from grassroots agricultural realities. He caustically remarked that when bureaucratic appointments replace practical political leadership at the ministerial level, officials rely heavily on abstract administrative knowledge rather than understanding the genuine sweat and toil of farming communities. According to Savadi, the Centre has failed to conduct any empirical studies concerning the actual per-acre cost of sugarcane cultivation, factoring in skyrocketing expenses for fertilizers, labor, pesticides, and machinery maintenance. Detailing specific economic disparities, Savadi targeted the massive profit margins accumulated by oil companies through the government's ethanol blending program. He highlighted that while sugar mills produce ethanol under federal directives and purchase it from growers at roughly ₹62 per litre, petroleum companies blend and market the fuel to the general public at around ₹110 per litre. This leaves oil firms with a staggering profit margin of ₹50 per litre for doing virtually no foundational labor. Savadi reiterated that if the central pricing mechanisms were adjusted to raise ethanol procurement rates to at least ₹90 per litre, sugar mills would instantly have the financial liquidity required to pay farmers a sustainable rate of ₹5,000 per tonne. Furthermore, he advocated for a structural dual-pricing policy for refined sugar—separating standard retail pricing from commercial rates charged to mass-market confectioneries and beverage giants like Coca-Cola—with the resulting revenue margins directly passed down to cultivators as part of an enhanced Minimum Support Price (MSP). Addressing the outcome of the recent capital negotiations led by Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Pralhad Joshi, Savadi expressed profound disappointment. Rather than providing an immediate price hike or a concrete financial package, federal leaders merely deferred the issue by promising to constitute yet another review committee over the span of a month. Savadi noted that such bureaucratic delays are completely unacceptable to crisis-ridden cultivators. He also censured the conspicuous absence of the Union Petroleum Minister from the crucial meeting, noting that any meaningful solution regarding ethanol pricing requires direct accountability from the petroleum sector.