BELAGAVI: Reacting to the ongoing massive indefinite agitation by sugarcane farmers at Gurlapur, near Belagavi, demanding higher procurement prices, Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar on Tuesday said both farmers and factory owners must be treated fairly.
“We too come from farming families. Just because we own factories doesn’t mean we are unaware of farmers’ hardships. Injustice should not be done either to farmers or to factory owners,” she said in Belagavi.
On the protest, she said, “Two meetings have been held. I couldn’t attend as I was busy with official work, but my brother and son are in regular touch with farmers. A joint meeting of farmers and factory owners will be convened soon. However, price negotiations must be handled sensitively and they can’t be approached in a confrontational way.”
On BJP leaders joining the farmers’ protest, she said, “Let everyone join the farmers’ struggle, but they should leave politics aside. We all know BJP’s so-called concern for farmers."
"The country also knows how the central government crushed farmers’ protests earlier and how many lives were lost. If BJP state president Vijayendra truly cares for farmers, let him prove it through action,” she said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is expected to attend the Anganwadi golden jubilee celebrations, to be held in Bengaluru on November 19. Hebbalkar reiterated that Rahul has been invited to attend the big event.