The Punjab Congress on Monday alleged that the closure of sugar mills and non-payment of arrears to sugarcane farmers would lead to more farmers’ suicides, for which Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would be directly responsible.
Comparing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s “deliberate ignorance” with erstwhile Roman emperor Nero, who played the flute while Rome burnt, the party alleged that the five-time Chief Minister “choose to maintain a conspiracy of silence to favour the powerful sugar lobby, which is highly condemnable and deplorable”.
“Three private sugar mill owners have issued public notices in newspapers announcing closure of their industry for the ensuing 2015-16 cane crushing season. It has also come to light that these private mills have not undertaken the routine exercise to bound the sugarcane crop, falling within their area as well,” pointed party leader and former MlA Sukhpal Khaira.
He said that this “anti-farmer step” of “powerful” sugar mill owners will only add to the woes of pitiable farmers, aggravate the already mounting debt of `51,000 crore and lead to many more suicides by the farmers. “If the State fails to intervene timely, Badal would be directly held responsible for suicides if any, in the coming days,” he said.
He said that the sugar lobby in the country wields tremendous influence over the policies related to their industry, as there are politicians cutting across party lines who own large number of sugar mills. “Even in Punjab, there are rumours that junior Badal has benami stakes in a private sugar mill at Phagwara, where his frontman Akali leader Jarnail Singh Wahad Markfed chairman, holds major shares. Similarly, Congress legislator from Kapurthala owns sugar mill at Buttar village near Baba Bakala. Probably, it is the deep vested interest of politicians, that is forcing Badal to maintain a stoic silence over such a burning issue,” he said.
Needless to mention, the said powerful sugar lobby has recently been given major financial relief by the Modi Government, by enhancing import duty of sugar from 15 percent to 40 per cent in order to discourage import of cheap sugar for the domestic market, he said.
“Similarly, the Central Government has advanced `6,000 crore interest-free loans to the private sugar mills of the country. Thus, it is appalling and shocking to note the anti-farmer attitude of the sugar mill owners,” he added.