Farmers Movement Archive

Not paid, cane farmers protest against mills in Kheri, Shahjahanpur

Bareilly: Protests against Bajaj Hindustan Sugar mills in Gola and Palia towns of Lakhimpur Kheri continued for the third day even as their counterparts in Shahjahanpur staged a protest at the company mill in Banda area on Saturday for non-payment of dues, pending since last year. The protest in Lakhimpur Kheri was called by Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leaders who refused to leave the site despite efforts by the district magistrate and the superintendent of Police. Mill operations in Gola have come to a standstill for the past 48 hours. Farmers said they would leave only after the money was transferred in their bank account and the Gola mill officials were arrested and sent to jail In Lakhimpur Kheri, cane dues have not been paid since December 2020. In November this year, the mill administration had given a written undertaking that dues would be cleared by November 30. Kheri’s DM had on Tuesday ordered an FIR against the sugar mill officials of the Palia unit. Palia BJP MLA Romi Sahni also tried to resolve the matter by seeking CM Yogi Adityanath’s intervention in the matter. While no mill administration official was available for comment, Sanjeev Suman, SP Kheri, said, “We had a word with the mill officials and they said they are not in a position to clear all the dues. However, they promised to pay Rs 10 crore by Monday.” Shree Krishna Verma, farmer leader, told TOI, “We refuse to withdraw the protest as our meeting with the Kheri DM and SP has failed. They were offering money to us as if we were beggars.”

The Times of India

2021-12-05

Bareilly