Farmers Movement Archive

Haryana chief minister orders payment of dues to Naraingarh sugarcane farmers

Days before farmers attached with the Naraingarh sugar mill in Ambala are scheduled to gherao the office of Haryana cane commissioner for their pending dues, chief minister Manohar Lal on Friday ordered full payment to the farmers.The order came after the CM chaired a meeting with officials concerned, including Ambala deputy commissioner Vikram, in Chandigarh. In two tweets in Hindi, CMO Haryana mentioned about the decisions.“Taking an important decision for the sugarcane farmers of the state, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has directed the officials to ensure that the sugarcane farmers are paid at the earliest….Apart from this, the Chief Minister gave strict instructions to Naraingarh Sugar Mills that the crushing season should start before November 25, 2021 and at the same time, full payment to the farmers of this mill should be ensured,” the tweets read.Speaking to HT after the meeting, the DC said it will be ensured that the mill operations of the season start on time and the sugarcane attached with the mill wasn’t diverted, as decided earlier. “Payments will be cleared once the mill starts working,” he said.At a large mahapanchayat attended by BKU leader Gurnam Singh Charuni on September 28, the private mill owner, Rahul Anand, had accepted the demands of employees of the sugar mill, who had been protesting for 16 days, paving the way for timely resumption of the mill.However, there was no consensus on the pending dues worth ₹66 crore, as the owner showed his inability to clear the amount and the government showed no interest, Rajeev Sharma, district media coordinator of BKU (Charuni), said.“We have asked the administration to hold a meeting with the government till October 4, else we will protest the next day in Panchkula. We have no hope that we will receive our dues from the owner and the government wants us to wait for the mill to start, so that our payments are cleared,” Sharma said. Lashing out at the state government, Vinod Rana, president of Ganna Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, said it should clarify who will disburse the payments and by when.“The mill has been sanctioned loan by the government thrice and farmers have agitated several times in the past as well to get their payments released,” Rana said. There are almost 7,500 farm families from Panchkula, Ambala and a few from Yamunanagar attached with the mill that receives 80-90 lakh quintals of the crop annually, from 30,000 acres spread across three districts.

Hindustan Times

02-10-2021

Chandigarh