Sugarcane farmers pin hopes on bypoll for dues

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 18

Farmers, who have been waiting for their dues from sugar mills for long, are now pinning hopes on the Phagwara bypoll. Reason: They feel that due to the bypoll, those in the fray will leave no stone unturned to gain votes and for which they would help farmers get their long-pending dues.

Notably, the Phagwara bypoll will take place as BJP MLA Som Parkash was elected as the Hoshiarpur MP.

“What else can we do? We know that when the elections are nearing, every leader comes to us and listen to our grievances. So, we feel that we may get our due payments for our sugarcane crops,” said Satnam Singh, a Phagwara farmer, adding that “it is only during the elections when we are heard”. An official of the administration said the sugar mill in Phagwara that owes above Rs 50 crore to farmers caters to nearly 3,500 farmers from Phagwara and adjacent areas like Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr.

The sugarcane farmers had held a massive protest last year in December, demanding the release of the dues by the government and private sugar mills in the state.

Officials had held a meeting with the mill owners a few months ago and asked them to release the payments and the dues of Rs 76 crore at that time were brought down to nearly Rs 57 crore last month.

As per the information, an amount of Rs 45 lakh is being given on a daily basis by the sugar mill to farmers, as per the commitment that was made during the meeting. However, a large amount is still due.

The farmers said they were left with no option but to leave their families and hold dharnas. Sugarcane was the only crop that was helping the state get out of the vicious circle of paddy and wheat, but the present condition of the sugarcane growers shows that the government hardly cared about the concept of crop diversification, they said.

With the dues not being cleared, the farmers said they were left with no option but to take loans from arhtiyas and banks to make ends meet.

SDM, Phagwara, Jai Inder Singh said efforts were being made to ensure that the farmers get their dues soon. “Daily dues are being given and I am making sure that they get the payments at the earliest,” the SDM said.

Forced to take loans

With the dues not being cleared, farmers said they were left with no option but to take loans from arhtiyas and banks to make ends meet. They said they don't have any option but to leave their families and hold dharnas. Sugarcane was the only crop that was helping the state get out of the vicious circle of paddy and wheat, but the present condition of the sugarcane growers shows that the government hardly cared about the concept of crop diversification.