Amritsar: Sugarcane growers demand settlement of Rs 6.78-cr dues

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 1

Area sugarcane farmers staged a protest outside the Cooperative Sugar Mill at Bhala Pind near Ajnala on Thursday. They have been staging a protest over the issue of pending dues of the crop purchased by the mill.

The farmers, protesting under the banner of Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, said payment worth Rs 6.78 crore was pending against the mill. They demanded that the dues should be released immediately.

Jamhoori Kisan Sabha president Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala said: “As per the Sugarcane Control Order-1966 of the government, the mills are liable to pay 15 per cent interest to the farmers if the payment is not done within 15 days of the purchase.” He said over Rs 134 crore of sugarcane farmers was pending against the sugarcane mills in the entire state.

The sugarcane growers also demanded from the government to fix the rate of Rs 450 per quintal for sugarcane in the next season. They said the prices of sugarcane should be fixed as per the report of the Dr Swaminathan Commission which recommended 50 per cent profit over the cost of cultivation.

Another farmer leader Kulwant Singh Mallunangal said the farmers were being unnecessarily harassed as an unauthorised weight cut was being applied on the produce brought by the farmers. He said the farmers were also being harassed in issuing slips for the sale of sugarcane by sugarcane mills.

Dr Ajnala said sugarcane is an eco-friendly crop which helps in conserving water. He said ethanol, a byproduct of the sugarcane industry, could also help save foreign exchange. They also demanded that the Bhala Pind Sugar Mill should be given the permission to setup an ethanol plant.

Meanwhile, the farmers also observed the day as a “Kisan Divas” and organised an event at Nwa Pind on Amritsar-Mehta road. Lakhbir Singh Nizampura, president of the Vegetable Growers’ Association, said various problems being faced by the farmers at revenue offices and other departments associated with agriculture were discussed at the event. The farmer leader stated that a protest outside the residence of Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh would be held on September 5 to press upon their demands.

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