Lucknow: Former UP minister and one of the most popular faces in the state capital, Begum Hamida Habibullah passed away at 102 here on Tuesday morning.

Daughter of the late Nawab Nazir Yar Jung Bahadur, Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court, Begum Hamida was a front-ranking social worker known to the land of Avadh.

Married to Major General Inayat Habibullah, founder commandant of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune.

Begum Hamida served as an MLA from Haidergarh (Barabanki) and was state minister of social and Harijan welfare, national integration and civil defence from 1971-73 and tourism minister from 1971-74.

She was also a member of the Executive Committee of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) till 1980 and an elected member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) from 1969.

Begum Hamida served as the president of Mahila Congress, UPCC, from 1972-76 after which she was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1976 till 1982, a relative informed.

Her burial will take place later on Tuesday at Saidanpur, her native village in Barabanki.

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Kalaburagi: Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) and the Taluk Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti protested outside the Siddasiri Ethanol Power Unit in Chincholi, demanding appropriate minimum support price (MSP) to sugarcane farmers in Chincholi.

Pointing out that it was decided at the meeting chaired by District In-charge Minister Priyank Kharge on November 15 to provide farmers an MSP of Rs 2,950 per tonne of sugarcane with an additional Rs 50 as support price from sugar factory owners, the protesting farmers also demanded that the decision be implemented.

“The Siddasiri sugar factory owner has violated the agreement by paying each farmer only Rs 2,550,” the farmers have alleged.

President of the KPRS Kalaburagi District Unit Sharanabasappa Mamashetti said, “When he opened the factory, legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal had assured that the factory would pay farmers in Kalaburagi an additional Rs 100, but has failed to live up to the word.”

The protesting farmers have demanded that the authorities concerned give priority to sugarcane farmers of Chincholi and Kalagi taluks to support the sugarcane crop. “Also, the factories should employ local youngsters and due measures should be taken to ensure the safety of the drivers of sugarcane transport vehicles,” they said.

They also handed their memorandum to Tahsildar Subbanna Jamakhandi and Power Ethanol Unit General Manager Dayananda Banagara.

The Tahsildar has assured that a meeting with the sugar factory owners would be held to discuss the issues raised by the farmers.