53 days on, farmers continue protest for revival of cooperative sugar mill

The ‘pakka morcha’ started by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha against the transfer of ownership of the cooperative sugar mill at Sheron to other departments continued for the 53rd day today. A gathering of farmers was held at the Morcha site today.

The gathering was addressed by leaders of organisations affiliated with the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, including Harjinder Singh Tanda, Gurpreet Singh Gandiwind, Daljit Singh Dayalpura, Tarsem Singh Luhar, Nachhattar Singh Pannu and Inderjit Singh Marhana.

The speakers strongly condemned the government’s policy of transferring the ownership of the cooperative sugar mill to PUDA and other institutions. They demanded that the closed mill be restarted immediately so that farmers in the area would take interest in sowing sugarcane instead of following the traditional wheat-paddy crop cycle. They said this would also help in conserving groundwater.

They said that restarting the mill would not require any additional expenditure from the government as crores of rupees had already been deposited in the mill’s accounts after its land was acquired for the National Highway project.

The speakers warned the government that the organisations would continue their struggle until victory was achieved. They said that the sugar mill was established with the contribution of farmers through shares, due to which the government had no legal right to transfer its ownership further.

The leaders urged the government to give up its rigid stance and resolve the issue through talks with the protesting farmers.