Punjab to Continue Providing Highest Sugarcane Rates to Farmers

Punjab to Continue Providing Highest Sugarcane Rates to Farmers

The Punjab government will continue to provide the highest sugarcane rates to farmers in the country, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann announced on Friday. Mann made the announcement after meeting with farmer unions who had been protesting against the low sugarcane rates. The Chief Minister said that the state government has always been on top to provide rates to the sugarcane cultivators and now also this trend will be continued. He said that the state government was giving Rs 380 per quintal as State Agreed Price (SAP) of the sugarcane which was highest in the country till Haryana had recently enhanced it to Rs 386 per quintal. However, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the state government will soon give good news to the farmers by upward revision of this price, after having a meeting with the Sugarcane mill owners, in the coming days.

The Chief Minister said that the state government has cleared all the pending arrears of sugarcane farmers, which were inherited from the previous governments.He said that the state has 16 sugar mills out of which nine are from the cooperative sector and the remaining ones are from the private sector.Bhagwant Singh Mann said that only the payment from two private mills viz. Phagwara and Dhuri are pending, adding that the wheels have been set in motion for recovering this money, and paying it to the farmers, after selling these properties.The Chief Minister said that the doors are open for dialogue with any section of the society but harassment of common man on pretext of protests is totally unacceptable.He said that this trend needs to be checked so that the general public do not face any sort of inconvenience due to the protests adding that it is heartening to learn that the farmer unions have given affirmative response to it.The Chief Minister said that the government is always ready to resolve the issues pertaining to various sections of society through negotiations so the trouble to the common man through rail or road blockades must be avoided.

Mann Appeals to Farmers to Avoid Protests That Cause Public Inconvenience

Mann also expressed hope that the Punjab Governor will soon clear all the bills pending with him. He said that the Apex court has given a clear verdict in this regard and the bills passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha are now lying with the Governor. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the time has come when the Governor should discharge his constitutional and legislative duties thereby ensuring the smooth functioning of an elected government in the state.