Belgavi, Karnataka: Sugar Minister Shivanand Patil paid a surprise visit to the Malaprabha Cooperative Sugar Factory in MK Hubli on Saturday evening. During the visit, he received a barrage of complaints from farmer leaders, workers, as well as the management board.
Farmer leaders accused the factory of mismanagement and claimed that payments for the sugarcane supplied to it were still pending, reported The Times of India. Anand Huchagoudar, a farmers’ association leader, blamed both past and present boards for the factory’s poor condition.
As per the news report by The Times of India, farmers demanded to dismiss the management board immediately; investigate the irregularities; avoid the looting that going on even though the factory at a loss; run the factory with assistance from the govt and appoint a govt official for the post of MD.
Board chairman Basavaraj countered that rising competition among sugar factories in the district and lack of cooperation from farmer leaders contributed to the factory’s downfall. He added that insufficient sugarcane supply was another challenge.
