Uttarakhand farmers to have a bumper Diwali

SWEET DIWALI TREAT FOR CANE FARMERS

Farmers in Uttarakhand may have a bumper Diwali this time. Save one, all the private sugar mills have agreed to settle their dues, albeit partly, in view of the new crushing season as well as Diwali.

The move followed a high level meeting presided over by Sugarcane Minister Madan Kaushik on Monday.

In view of the indifferent attitude of some private sugar mills toward settling the farmers' longstanding dues, the government warned it would take stern action against the sugar mills in case the dues were not settled.

The government also decided to slap recovery challans (RC) on defaulters.

Official sources said while three of the private sugar mills agreed to settle the dues, only Kashipur sugar mill, which has to pay a hefty Rs 21 crore, did not give any positive response. The sources said the government may slap an RC on Kashipur sugar mill in case it failed to settle the dues at the earliest.

Earlier, the government had decided to give an assistance of Rs 47.58 crore to bail out the loss-making government sugar mills. The private sugar mills are agitated in the absence of any fresh package announced by the centre.

Among those willing to settle the dues, Luxor sugar mill agreed to pay Rs 5 crore to farmers before Diwali. Similarly, Iqbalpur sugar mill would pay Rs 4 crore while Uttam sugar mill, Rs 2 crore.

Altogether, private sugar mills have to pay Rs 49 crore to farmers. Significantly, most of the government-aided sugar mills have already settled their accounts.

The meeting also decided the new crushing season would begin from November 16.