Bengaluru: Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday made two assurances in the Legislative Assembly on  – One: that sugar factories would pay the first instalment of farmers’ dues within a month; Second: to accept the Bharatiya Janata Party’s demand to adjust the payment to be made by the Escoms towards the power supplied by the sugar mills, against their dues to farmers.

After assuring implementation, the BJP withdrew their dharna.

Earlier, Opposition BJP staged a dharna in the Assembly demanding action by the government for clearance of dues by sugar factories to cane growers. As the assembly met, BJP MLAs entered the well of the House, demanding immediate payment of dues to farmers.

Opposition Leader Jagadish Shettar had said, “government has to understand sugarcane farmer’s problems; they have to take action against the factories so that they pay back the dues.” Basavaraja Bommai of the BJP said the government is not making any attempts to get farmers their dues back and it has to sent a message to the factories that they are on farmer’s side.