Package for sugar co-ops irks Maharashtra Cong

The Centre's package for co-operative sugar mills in Maharashtra has caused heartburn and unease in the Congress. Congress General Secretary Margaret Alva was learnt to have complained to party chief and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi about the Centre's revitalisation package for the ailing sugar co-operatives.

According to highly placed sources, Alva has told the UPA chairperson that the package will only help Sharad Pawar who is purportedly using his status as Union agriculture minister to strengthen his grip on the politically influential sugar lobby in Maharashtra.

The AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra was said to have pointed out to the Congress leadership that the package will be "misused" to suit the interest of influential sugar barons who are loyal to the Maratha strongman.

Sugarcane growers who were members of such co-operartives would not get any gains from the Centre's package, she reportedly argued, saying that many of the mills were beyond redemption.

"The state Congress has also taken it up with the state government at a coordination committee meeting last month," said sources.

With the Shiv Sena weakened by internecine fighting and rebellion, the Congress now fancies a strong chance of consolidation in Maharashtra. With a weak Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is now the strongest political rival of the Congress, which is apparently gearing up to give a strong push to dislodge the NCP from the political centrestage in the state.

Last September, the government had cleared a package to revitalise the sugar co-operative units. Under this, the sugar mills in the country are to be divided into two categories""those which can repay term loans within five years, including a moratorium of two years for payment of interest and principal, and those which can repay such loans within 15 years.

This applies to all cooperative sugar mills in the country, which have term loans outstanding on March 31, 2005, and which are commercially viable with adequate operational surplus to settle loans. The other parts of the package include putting off payments and lowering interest rates.

Of the 130 sugar mills covered under the Nabard package, 112 are in Maharashtra. Given the clout of sugar barons in state politics, apprehensions in the Congress were not misplaced, especially when the NCP and the Congress were jostling with each other to expand their respective electoral base, said sources.