Cane farmers desert sugar mill

Rautahat, January 15:

Hundreds of sugarcane farmers have alleged that Rautahat district’s Garuda-based Sriram Sugar Mill did not pay them for last year’s produce.

They are now selling their produce to other sugar mills in Bara and Sarlahi districts.

The farmers said that they returned empty-handed many times when they went to garuda to demand their last year’s payment.

Sugarcane farmer Harishchandra Jha of Bhalohiya said he had no hope of getting last year’s payment from the mill. Another farmer Mukunda Shah of Bhalohiya said he also had not got last March-April’s payment for his sugarcane that he had sold to Sriram Sugar Mill. He added when he sold the sugarcane to mills in Bara district, he got paid within a week.

The farmers said due to lack of a crossing for transporting the sugarcane, they had been forced to set fire to their harvest. They added that the condition of Sriram Sugar Mill has been deteriorating due to the weakness of the management.

Mill manager R N Kumar conceded that the supply of sugarcane to his mill had decreased by 50 per cent this year and said this was because many farmers had given up sugarcane farming. He claimed that last year’s payment was being completed. Admitting that a sum of Rs 15 million was yet to be paid, he added that the amount would be paid within 15 days.

Kumar also said that the delay in payment for last year’s sugarcane occurred because when the mill was running in loss. He added that the owners of the mill were committed to paying the farmers even if the mill runs in loss.