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Release ₹ 331 crore owed to sugarcane farmers: SAD to Mann
SAD Kisan Wing President Sikander Singh Maluka said the prolonged delay in the release of dues of sugarcane farmers would create a crisis in the farm sector
The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to immediately release ₹ 331 crore owed to sugarcane growers by state cooperative sugar mills.
SAD Kisan Wing President Sikander Singh Maluka, in a statement here, said the prolonged delay in the release of dues of sugarcane farmers would create a crisis in the farm sector.
“Farmers are already reeling under debt and in case the dues are not released immediately, farmers will be further indebted. Attempts to make farmers take to sugarcane by diverting from the wheat– paddy cycle will also come to naught due to such callousness,” the SAD leader added.
Maluka said private sugar mills should also be taken to task for failing to clear dues of sugarcane farmers.
He said as per estimates, private mills owed farmers ₹ 343 crore, demanding the government to issue a clear-cut directive to both cooperative and private sugar mills to clear the backlog of farmers along with interest.
