Government has no will to improve sugar mills, says Gurnam Singh Charuni

Tribune News Service

Ambala, January 5

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh said the government lacked the will-power to provide remunerative prices to the farmers and had no intention to improve the financial condition of sugar mills in real terms.

Gurnam Singh said, “The BJP government had claimed to double the farmers’ income by 2022. While the sugarcane price in 2014-15 was Rs 310 a quintal, it is Rs 362 a quintal in 2022-23. Over the past 8 years, sugarcane prices have increased by just Rs 52 a quintal. While the cost of labour has nearly doubled. If we go by the promise of the government, the prices of the sugarcane should have been Rs 620 a quintal. We have been requesting the government to increase the prices to Rs 450 a quintal, but to no avail.”

Interacting with farmers, the BKU chief said the government claimed that it had been spending a huge amount to clear the farmers’ dues as the financial condition of the sugar mills wasn’t good.

To improve the financial condition, the government should install ethanol plants in all the sugar mills, and it should also increase the sugar prices, he added.

“About 35 per cent sugar is used for domestic purposes, while about 65 per cent is used for commercial purposes. The cost of the sugar-based products prepared by the companies has been increasing over the years, while the prices of sugar and sugarcane have not increased that much,” he said.

The sugarcane farmers have been demanding the prices to be increased to Rs 450 a quintal from the current Rs 362 a quintal. The farmers will hold a mahapanchayat in Karnal on January 10. The union chief said, “The government has been displaying an adamant attitude and forcing the farmers to block the roads. If the prices are not increased, the union will give the call for a big agitation on January 10. The farmers have been asked to come prepared for every situation.”

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