Farmers Movement Archive

Cane farmers block highway over pending payments

Ambala: Sugarcane farmers on Tuesday held a protest meeting outside Naraingarh Sugar Mill at Banondi village in Shahzadpur area of Ambala district to demand pending payments of about Rs 19.5 crore. The farmers under the leadership of BKU (Charuni) Ambala unit chief Malkiat Singh Sahibpura started gathering outside the mill at about 10.30am and protested till 2pm. When the officials of the sugar mill and district administration did not come to listen to the farmers for long, they blocked National Highway-7 for about 15-20 minutes. Following the road blockade, Naraingarh tehsildar Dinesh Dhillon accompanied by DSP Anil Kumar, SHO Shahzadpur sub-inspector (SI) Chander Bhan and mill’s vice-president Nageshwar Rao and officials reached the spot. The farmers blocked the road for a short period and cleared the blockade when the officials reached the spot to meet them, the tehsildar said. Malkiat said, “Initially, the officials of district administration and mill management were attempting to ignore the farmers, forcing us to block the highway. They came late from the given time and promised to clear the payments partially. If the promise is not kept, then we will be forced to launch an agitation.” Naraingarh sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Vaishali Sharma said, “After meeting the protesting farmers, the mill management promised to clear pending payments of Rs 7.5 crore by next week and that all dues (about Rs 12 crore) of previous season will be cleared by December 20. The farmers have been assured that the mill would start its crushing operations for this season from November 23 onwards.” Sources said the mill had been waiting for payment of Rs 7.5 crore of its power generation from the government side. SDM Sharma said, “The government owes Rs 7.5 crore towards power generation by Naraingarh sugar mill and the payment is expected to be released by next week. In next season we are also trying to increase revenue of mill by expanding its power generation capacity. This would further strengthen balance sheet of mill thus ensuring regular payments on time.”

The Times of India

2020-11-18

Chandigarh