CHANDIGARH: Farmers of Ambala region met Haryana chief minister (CM) Nayab Singh Saini at his official residence in Chandigarh on Saturday. They demanded from CM to release the pending electricity dues of Rs 14 crore to Naraingarh Sugar Mill at Banondi village in Shahzadpur area of Ambala district. The farmers also demanded from the government to take over the private Naraingarh Sugar Mill and procure the sugar manufactured by this mill through HAFED.
The farmers led by Ganna Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Venod Rana handed over two different memorandums to the CM. Rana was accompanied by farmers Rajpal Rana, Sukhminder and Rajiv Sharma. Sukhminder said, “The sugar mill owes total sugarcane dues of Rs 19 crore to farmers. Due to the pending government loan on sugar mill, the government releases only 50% payment of the electricity generated by the mill, which affects the timely payment release to the farmers.”
The farmers demanded from CM, “Sugarcane payment is one of the biggest issues faced by farmers of the Naraingarh region. This season, the sugar mill has produced and sold electricity worth Rs 14 crore to Haryana government’s electricity department.
For the last three years, the Haryana government is releasing 50% payment of the electricity generation to the sugar mill, from which, the pending sugarcane dues of the farmers are cleared. Every year, IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited) obtains NOC from Haryana Sugarcane Commissioner, Panchkula and then releases the amount to the sugar mill. Therefore, it is requested to release the pending dues of the electricity from Haryana government side to the sugar mill, so that the farmers’ sugarcane payment can be released.”
In their second letter, farmers suggested to the Haryana CM that after the Supreme Court’s order of the attachment of Naraingarh Sugar Mill in an ongoing case, Haryana government’s HAFED should take this mill, so that all the work is done under its observation. “For setting up a new sugar mill, it will cost Rs 600 crore to the government. But if the HAFED runs this sugar mill, it will not cost the government anything, rather, it will help in recovery of the government loan amount given to the sugar mill”, said the farmers.
The farmers added that in the interest of the 7,000 farmers associated with this sugar mill who supply over 50 lakh quintal sugarcane and about 700 employees of the sugar mill, the government must permanently take over this mill and HAFED should run it as per rules.
