Sugarcane growers in distress over Rs 200 crore dues, alleges Partap Bajwa

Leader of Opposition (LOP) Partap Singh Bajwa today accused the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of failing to clear Rs 200 crore dues of sugarcane farmers in the state.

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Despite repeated assurances, the payment against sugarcane crop supplied from January to March this year remained unpaid, pushing farmers into severe financial distress, he said.

Bajwa criticised the government for giving priority to private sugar mill owners over poor farmers, highlighting the recent Rs 100 crore bailout package extended to private mills. “While the government generously clears payments of private players, a farmer, who nurtured his crop for months, is left to fend for himself,” he said.

He said during a public farmers’ meet on the PAU campus in Ludhiana in May, the CM had announced that Rs 100 crore had been released for payments to farmers who sold sugarcane to cooperative sugar mills. However, Bajwa claimed these funds were later diverted to private sugar mills, calling it a “betrayal and deception” that would severely damage Punjab’s cooperative sector.

The Fazilka Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd has reportedly released only 32% of payments to farmers since the start of the season, even though it continues to sell sugar every month in the open market under the quota system. Instead of clearing farmers’ dues, the revenue generated was being used to pay salaries and arrears of factory staff, including pensions, GPF, gratuities and maintenance expenses as old as three years, Bajwa alleged.