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Khattar inaugurates new cooperative sugar mill in Karnal
Chief minister Khattar said the new cooperative sugar mill in Karnal will not only crush 3,500 tonnes of cane daily, but also generate 18 MW power
Crushing operations at the government-operated sugar mills began on Monday with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurating the newly set up cooperative mill in Karnal.
The chief minister said the sugar mill will not only crush 3,500 tonnes of cane daily, but also generate 18 MW power. He said this was a long-pending demand of the people as the existing mill was around 44 years old and unable to crush the entire produce of the farmers.
Khattar said ₹263 crore has been spent on setting up of new sugar mill. He also assured that the pending payments of farmers will be cleared soon, directions regarding which have been issued to the Karnal deputy commissioner.
The chief minister also inaugurated a 60 KL per day ethanol plant at the Shahbad cooperative sugar mill virtually. “This plant will also help in meeting the growing demand of the green fuel,” he added.
To produce sulphur free refined sugar
The Karnal mill will be the first in the state to produce sulphur-free refined sugar, said Aditi, managing director of the mill.
As per technical experts, sulphur is an additive used by manufacturers for purifying sugar.
This year, the mill has set a target to crush 55 lakh quintals of sugarcane and the MD said they had done the bonding with the farmers to supply around 60 lakh quintals sugarcane. Officials said to meet the crushing capacity of the new mill, around 10 lakh tonnes of sugarcane from the nearby mills has been allocated to the Karnal facility.
Farm agitation limited to some stubborn people: CM
Reacting over farmers’ agitation, Khattar said this protest was now limited to some stubborn people. “The issue will be resolved if these people shun stubbornness and come for talks with the government or let the agitation continue even for years,” he said when asked about the farm leaders’ warning to intensify the stir.
“But they will not be given a free hand to disturb the law and order and action will be taken against those involved in any violence. FIR has already been registered against the people involved in Hisar’s Narnaund incident,” he added.
However, the chief minister skipped a question over BJP’s Rohtak MP Arvind Sharma’s controversial statement. Without naming anybody, he said, “There is a need to speak about the people who had chopped off hands and legs instead of reacting over the statements.”
The chief minister, meanwhile, also announced a 25% increase in the compensation given to the farmers for their damaged crops. He said the farmers will be given a compensation of ₹15,000 per acre for 100% damage instead of ₹12,000.
Khattar also announced that the farmers having up to two acres of agriculture land need not to pay premium for the PM’s crop insurance scheme. He said the government will also bear 50% of the premium for the farmers having two to five acres of agricultural land.
Night food court comes up in city
Khattar also inaugurated a night food market at Sector 12 of Karnal. The chief minister said residents will get all kinds of fast food at one market, which has around 40 stalls. The night food court will remain open from 6pm to 12am and offer a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items. A part of the smart city project, it will have seating arrangement for around 1,000 people.
Khattar also announced to open such food courts at four more locations.
‘Antyodaya Gramodaya Mela’ to be held across Haryana: CM
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Monday that ‘Antyodaya Gramodaya Mela’ would be organised across the state in order to increase the income of poor families and financially empower them.
Presiding over the state working committee meeting of BJP’s OBC Morcha in Panchkula, he said the work of income verification is being done by collecting data through Parivar Pehchan Patra Yojana. The work of setting up self-employment through 40 schemes of six departments is at the final stage, he added.
To increase the income of poor families, financial assistance will be provided from the banks through the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Khattar said the officers of the OBC Morcha should prepare a list of 10 such families in their surrounding areas and send it to the government.
(With inputs from HTC Chandigarh)
