Phagwara: A meeting of district administration officials and farmer leaders was held at the SDM office on Monday to discuss the long-pending sugarcane payments owed to farmers by Golden Sandhar Mills Ltd in Phagwara. The dues amount to around Rs 28 crore. The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Panchal, Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Toora, SDM Jashanjit Singh, the Punjab Cane Commissioner, and leaders of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Doaba, led by Manjit Singh Rai and Satnam Singh Sahni, reports The Tribune.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, BKU leader Manjit Singh Rai said the officials decided that the sugar mill would not be granted a licence for the current crushing season unless the Rana Group, which now owns the mill, gives a clear assurance that farmers’ pending payments will be settled. He said that when the Rana Group took over the mill, an agreement was signed stating that 2.5 per cent of the company’s annual crushing-season profits would be used to clear old arrears owed to farmers. Rai alleged that the company has not followed this agreement and has failed to clear the outstanding payments to sugarcane growers.
