Govt may hand over reins to Rana group

Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, November 2

The Punjab government, while solving the problems of sugarcane farmers, has paved the way for the re-opening of the sugarcane mill in Phagwara and handed over reins to the Rana Group again.

The decision was taken today in a meeting of farmers’ representatives with Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Thursday evening.

It was decided in the meeting that a payment of Rs 9 crore will be made by the new investor in monthly installments of around Rs 2 core. Regarding the amount of Rs 42 crore owed by the farmers to the old mill owners, the minister inquired about the situation from the Deputy Commissioner and instructed that action should be taken to sell their property so that the old amount of farmers can also be recovered. Orders have now been issued to start the mill immediately so that the new crop of farmers do not get damaged.

It is worth mentioning that the Punjab government had sealed the mill due to the protest made by farmers’ organisations over collecting the old amount from former MD Jarnail Singh Wahad who was sent to jail along with his family members and has not yet been granted bail.

Mill manager Umesh Sharma said that tomorrow morning, the seal of the mill will be removed by the civil administration and after that pending repair work of the mill would be done and the crushing started soon. With this decision of the government, the worries of the farmers have almost ended because due to the mill being sealed, most farmers were worried about where to dump the sugarcane produce of this season. If the mills are not operational, the farmers would have to travel a long distance to go to mills located outside.

Cane Commissioner Dr Rajesh Kumar Heja and Assistant Cane Commissioner Sukhjinder Singh Bajwa said out of the outstanding amount of Rs 42 crore of farmers, Rs 9 crore will be given by the Rana Group and Rs 31 crore will be given by selling the property of the old mill owner. They said that the government is serious about the matter and decisions are being taken for the welfare of farmers. They assured that the farmers will not face any kind of problem.