Farmers Movement Archive

Ambala: Sugarcane farmers threaten to stage dharna from February 14

Ambala, February 7Sugarcane farmers on Monday held a protest and a panchayat over the delay in payment of dues by Naraingarh Sugarmills Limited. They have given an ultimatum to clear payments as per the 14-day norm by February 13, else they will begin a dharna in front of the SDM’s office in Naraingarh from February 14.Rs 72 crore yet to be paidPayments worth around Rs72 crore are running late. Every year, the payments get stuck and farmers have to either accept post-dated cheques (PDC) or wait for months even after the end of the crushing season to get cash payments. Rajiv Sharma, General Secretary, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni)Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) general secretary and spokesman Rajiv Sharma said, “Payments worth around Rs 72 crore are running late. Every year, the payments get stuck and farmers have to either accept post-dated cheques (PDC) or wait for months even after the end of the crushing season to get cash payments. The cash payment of Rs 27.59 crore of the previous season that ended in April was cleared in December last year and farmers don’t want a similar situation this year.”Vinod Rana, president, Ganna Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, said, “The mill started operations for the current season on November 23 and so far, payments up to December 8 have been cleared. The mill hasn’t been able to clear dues as per norms.”Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) chief Amarjeet Singh said, “As per norms, the payment has to be cleared within 14 days of purchase of sugarcane, but here the payment is running late by almost two months. The farmers are not happy with the situation hence it has been decided to start a dharna in front of the SDM office from February 14, if the payment as per norms are not cleared by February 13.”Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Naraingarh, Niraj, who also holds the charge of the chief executive officer of the mill, said, “The farmers wanted the mill to clear all their dues, which is not possible. The sugarmill has got sugarcane worth around Rs 90 crore in this season so far. The mill has already cleared dues of around Rs 73 crore (including the dues of the previous year and Rs 18 crore of the current season) in the ongoing crushing season so far. A payment of around Rs 72 crore of this season is outstanding. We will take up the matter with the higher authorities soon.” #farmers protest

The Tribune

2022-02-08