Cane growers call CM’s promise of coop sugar mill a ‘chunavi jumla’

Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 21

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s promise of establishing a co-operative sugar mill in Naraingarh has failed to impress sugarcane growers, who have termed it a ‘Chunavi Jumla’.

During the Jan Ashirwad Rally in Naraingarh on Tuesday, the CM had expressed concerns over the inconvenience caused to farmers due to delayed payments by the Naraingarh Sugar Mills Limited every year and had promised to set up a cooperative mill if voted to power.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) spokesman and sugarcane farmer from Naraingarh Rajiv Sharma said “Though Naraingarh Sugar Mills Limited is private, it is being run under the supervision of the Haryana Government since 2019. Sugarcane farmers are forced to hold repeated agitations to get their payments cleared. The mill is yet to clear dues worth over Rs 22 crore of the previous season which ended in March. Instead of promising a new sugar mill, the CM could have issued directions to clear the dues, which would have given the farmers the much-needed relief.”

Sanyukt Ganna Kisan Samiti, president Singara Singh, said, “The promises being made during the election time are just ‘chunavi jumlas’. The government had made several promises in the past that were not fulfilled. The farmers held a tractor march on August 5 and had given a call for ‘Jal Satyagraha’ for August 12. We had a meeting with senior government officials and we were assured that the payment would be cleared by August 18, after which we postponed the agitation till August 20. But the model code of conduct came into force, and the payment got stuck.”

“We held a meeting with the sugarcane farmers today to discuss the issue and it has been decided to resume the agitation after the new government takes charge. We have also decided to hold a panchayat next month to discuss the role of farmers in the upcoming elections and launch a campaign against the government. We will make people aware of the promises made to the farmers which were not fulfilled,” he added.

Vinod Rana, president of Ganna Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, said, “As the Chief Minister belongs to Naraingarh, sugarcane farmers had high hopes from him. We were expecting that he would resolve the issue of delayed payments but he said nothing about clearing the dues. We had submitted a memorandum to the CM in this context recently but the dues are still pending. Setting up a co-operative sugar mill is not an easy task in Naraingarh as every sugar mill has its own assigned areas for sugarcane and there are already two sugar mills in operation in Naraingarh and Yamunanagar. The BJP was in power for 10 years and if it really wanted to set up a sugar mill, it could have started the process early.”