A group of sugarcane farmers from the State have been on a dharna for over one-and-a-half months here in Meerut, pressing for the implementation of the high court orders on release of price arrears of over `5,600 crore for the years 2009-10.
VM Singh, the convenor of the farmers’ collective — Rashtriya Kisan Mazdor Sangthan, said that the UP Government assured the lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court that the HC orders of August 2011 and August 2012 pertaining to the arrears of the farmers would be implemented within the financial year of 2012.
“The Government gave the assurances after farmers announced that they would go on an indefinite fast if their arrears were not released with interest this year. (But) the Government is in collusion with sugar mills and is holding off on the payments despite the sugar mills showing profits in their balance sheets,” he said.
Singh also said the Government, under the pressure of sugar mill lobby, had been delaying the issue for years. “During the year 2009-10, sugar mills awarded the rates which ranged from `185/- per quintal to `260/- per quintal. And the mills paid accordingly on the price mentioned on the slips but the mills’ decision paying on discriminatory basis was challenged in the court,” he said.
According to court orders, the mills were ordered to pay uniform price within a society and deduced that arrears had gone into several crores. But till now, the mills have not complied with the court orders, he said.
The UP sugarcane commissioner has himself assured that arrears would be released by the end of this fiscal. But farmers are still awaiting any Government representation, with just one more day to go for the 2012 financial year to end, Singh claimed. “The Government makes promises before the court but forgets it the moment it walks out of the court premises, which is why we have been staging a dharna to get the justice since February 16, 2013,” Singh said on Saturday.
However, divisional commissioner of Meerut Mrityunjay Narain said, “The farmer leader has put his representation before me and I have forwarded it to the Government. Now Government has to decide on their demands”.