The agitated opposition comprising the SP, BSP and Congress staged a noisy walkout in the Assembly on Wednesday as the state government refused to commit any specific date for clearing cane dues and refused to clarify whether arrears will be paid with interest.
Sugarcane Development Minister Suresh Rana admitted that Rs 6054.23 crore were to be paid to cane farmers while replying to a short notice question by Congress leader Ajay Kumar Lalu and others in the Assembly during Question Hour.
In his reply, Rana claimed that the government had cleared Rs 34,418 crore in 2017-18, which was a record. He also said that the state government had already given a package of Rs 3,555 crore to the sugar industry which included Rs 4,000 crore as soft loan. Of this, Rs 2605 crore had been disbursed among farmers. The minister also claimed that in the last 22 months, the state government had paid Rs 52,000 crore to cane farmers.
But, opposition members stood up and demanded a specific date for the clearance of all dues with interest. Opposition members also reminded the BJP government about their promise to reopen closed sugar mills.
SP member Sanjay Garg alleged that private and cooperative mills had paid merely 48 per cent of cane dues during the current season even when the court had ordered to pay interest on the dues, if not paid within 14 days of cane purchase. To this, Rana said that the government had opened four closed sugar mills and ensured early payment of cane dues.
Not satisfied with the answer, SP and BSP members walked out of the House raising anti-government slogans. Later, Congress members entered the Well of the House before walking out of the House.
This was first time that the bonhomie between the SP and BSP was witnessed inside the House as members of both the parties jointly walked out of the House.