Sugar mill tussle: BKU (Doaba) holds out threat of indefinite stir

Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, September 25

Amid the tussle between cane growers, Phagwara Sugar Mill and the civil administration over the payment of arrears of Rs 43 crore to the farmers and their threat to intensify stir from September 27, a meeting of the ‘price fixation committee’ was convened by Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Captain Karnail Singh at the Municipal Corporation Hall in Phagwara today.

The Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner asked leaders of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) to cancel their proposed indefinite dharna from September 27 before Golden Sandhar Sugar Mill, Phagwara, in view of the administrative meeting scheduled in Chandigarh on September 28. The appeal was rejected by leaders of the BKU (Doaba) who demanded ground-level action on attached properties by September 26.

Kapurthala DC Captain Karnail Singh, ADC Amit Kumar, SDM Jai Inder Singh, Phagwara MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, Tehsildar Baljinder Singh, Phagwara Block Samiti chairman Gurdial Singh Bhularai, BJP leader Avtar Singh Mand and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) general secretary Satnam Singh Sahni attended the meeting.

BKU leader Satnam Singh Sahni said the administration did not give any output to the sugarcane farmers regarding auction of attached properties of mill owners. Now, the administration had given the date of September 28 for a meeting with the Punjab Government, but farmers were not in agreement with it.

Sahni said if the administration gives any output by taking action on the attached properties of mill owners i.e. locking and vacating the properties and preventing the properties from ploughing, then they could consider postponing their programme of an indefinite dharna from September 27.