'Govt must pay dues of sugarcane farmers'

Jalandhar, March 24

The Mahila Kisan Union has demanded that the sugarcane growers must get their dues from the cooperative and private sugar mills of the state and the present AAP dispensation should intervene and help solve their legitimate problems.

President of the union Rajwinder Kaur Raju said the current crushing season of sugarcane in the state was almost over but farmers were not being given their dues on time. “Thus the erring sugar mills are openly violating Section 15-A of the Punjab Cane (Procurement and Supply Regulation) Act, 1953, and the Sugarcane Control Order, 1966. So the state government should take immediate legal action against the guilty sugar mills and orders should be issued to pay the farmers’ arrears with 15 per cent interest,” she demanded.

Raju said till March 18, 2022, the dues of farmers towards cooperative mills were Rs 280.70 crore while private sugar mills owed Rs 513 crore to farmers. She added that in one case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the sugar mills to make payments to the growers within a fortnight under the said Sugarcane Act, but the erring mill owners and the government officials were not paying heed to implement these orders as they seem to be taking the side of the owners, she added.

The farmer leader said the sugarcane growers were already in loss, so she called upon Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to intervene in the interest of farmers and ensure immediate release of cane farmers’ arrears with due interest and demanded immediate action against the erring mill owners. —