Uttar Pradesh to withdraw cases against farmers over stubble burning

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath promised to make all the previous payments that have been pending since 2010 before the new sugarcane crushing season.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday announced to withdraw cases filed against the farmers and waive the fines imposed on them for stubble burning. During an interaction with farmers, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath promised to make all the previous payments that have been pending since 2010 before the new cane crushing season.

“The government will withdraw the cases registered against the farmers due to stubble burning and the decision will be taken on refund of fine” the chief minister said.

“We will work to make sure timely payments are made as well as to increase the price of sugarcane. The decision will be communicated to all the concerned stakeholders so that the farmers are not misguided,” he added.

According to the UP government, Adityanath has instructed the officials to not sever electricity connection of any farmer due to pending bills. He also assured farmers that a One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme will be introduced for farmers so they don’t have to pay interest or penalty on the old electricity bills.

“The covid-19 pandemic today has grappled the entire world, however, the farmers have faced it bravely. The sugar mills continued to function even during the Covid period and the farmers continued to produce food grains” the chief minister said.

Criticising the previous governments, Adityanath said the sugar mills were shut down in the ‘Sugar Bowl’ of western Uttar Pradesh that left farmers disappointed. He asserted that the state and Central government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have worked together to uplift farmers with the goal to double their income. He also recounted the new sugar mills that were started in Pipraich-Munderwa and the enhancement of the capacity of the closed Ramala sugar mill. He announced that sugar mills would start in the western region from October 20 and in the central region from October 25.

“While only 6 lakh metric tonnes of wheat was procured in 2016-17, this year a record 56 lakh metric tonnes of wheat was procured despite [Covid-19]. We procured 66 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in the last season against 16 lakh metric tonnes of paddy purchased in 2016,” he said, adding that all these procurement were made directly from the farmers.