Charges against sugar mill officials after farmer commits suicide

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, January 5

The Maharashtra government has ordered the police to file criminal charges against directors and officials of sugar factories in cases where farmers commit suicide over non-receipt of payment for their crops.

The first case was filed earlier this week against the officials of New Phaltan Sugar Ltd, a private sugar mill in Maharashtra’s Satara district after a sugarcane farmer, Bhagwan Shinde, committed suicide.

The police said Shinde (83) was to have received Rs 80,000 from sugarcane he supplied to the factory last year.

In his suicide note, Shinde said attempts by him to get his dues cleared were rebuffed by the factory officials.

Reports saythe factory owes around Rs 48 crore to farmers in the area.

Though suicides are rampant among cultivators of food crops in Maharashtra distress is spreading among those growing cash crops like sugarcane this year, according to Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana. The body has been agitating for sugar mills to clear payments to sugarcane
farmers in one go.

According to information put out by the Sugar Commissioner’s office here, 188 sugar factories in the state owe more than Rs 3,500 crore to sugarcane farmers for the crushing season which began after the last monsoons.

Sugar mills are citing falling prices caused by a huge surplus of sugar stocks for their inability to pay sugarcane farmers.

Officials say sugar factories in western Maharashtra have defaulted on payment to sugarcane farmers for the first time this year. Sugar mills, most of which are in the co-operative sector, are demanding financial assistance from the state government to make payments to farmers.