JAGTIAL: Thousands of farmers staged a massive dharna at Metpalli on Tuesday, demanding that the Mutyampeta sugar factory be reopened. They also wanted the State government to procure maize and paddy from cultivators in the district.
The farmers staged a three-hour-long rasta roko on the road connecting Jagtial and Nizamabad, raising slogans against the State and Central governments. "Show us an alternative if you (the government) don’t want us to cultivate paddy in the upcoming Rabi season. Sugar cane is the alternative in Jagtial. But right now, the Mutyampeta sugar factory is shut down. We are forced to transport 90,000 tonnes of sugar cane to Kamareddy district," V Laxma Reddy, one of the farmers, said.
"If you don’t want us to cultivate paddy, then reopen the sugar factory immediately," the farmer reiterated.
The police tried barricading the road to prevent the dharna, but their efforts went in vain, as farmers from Jagtial, Nizamabad, Nirmal and Adilabad districts showed up at the protest site in thousands.
The protesters also wanted the government to set a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the maize crop. "If our demands are neglected, we will intensify our agitations," the protesting farmers warned the government.