A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MlA Sukhpal Khaira demanded enhancing sugarcane’s State Assured Price (SAP) in Punjab at par with Haryana, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday joined the chorus.
Bajwa, known for his love and hate relationship with Punjab Chief Minister Capt Marinder Singh, appealed to him to increase the SAP of sugarcane crop pointing that SAP in Haryana is fixed at Rs 330 per quintal, but in Punjab, it is between Rs 285 and Rs 300.
Terming it as “injustice with Punjab farmers”, Bajwa demanded that SAP in Punjab should be fixed at Rs 350 per quintal. He said that the Centre and the State Government have been pressing the farmers to diversify, “but if they are not given adequate price for their crop, no one will be willing to diversify”.
Bajwa said that in the past four years, there has been no increase in the price of sugarcane in Punjab. “Today, the retail price of sugar is at an all-time high of Rs 4,100 per quintal…70 percent of the sugarcane is crushed by private millers in Punjab and thus the State Government has nothing to lose,” he added.
He said that the private millers are into power generation, distilleries or breweries from the by-products of sugarcane, and thus they would not be affected by the price increase as they are expected to make huge profits at the prevailing rates.
Bajwa also pointed that due to lower SAP in Punjab, the Opposition parties were trying to project it as a decision taken under pressure from sugar barons lobby which is not the case.
“To debunk this negative propaganda against the government, immediate hike should be given to the SAP by the Punjab Government,” he added.
Only a day before, Khaira had alleged that by not increasing a penny in the SAP, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder had left the farmers in lurch and “favoured the powerful politicians-led sugar mills lobby”.
“This denial of any increase in the SAP is the outcome of the powerful private sugar lobby that that owns seven sugar mills. Most of these are owned by politicians…Rana Sugars at Baba Bakala is owned by family of Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, Phagwara mill by senior Akali leader Jarnail Singh Wahad, Mukerian mill by UP politician DP Yadav, Keeri Afghana by politically well-connected Chadha Group and Amloh mill by the Oswal Group,” said Khaira, who is also the leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha.
Already, the State’s sugarcane growers have announced to launch an agitation demanding an increase in the SAP. The Doaba Kisan Sangharash Committee had announced to block the national highway and rail tracks in Jalandhar on November 15 to press for their demand of increasing the SAP for sugarcane.