Capt. Amarinder warns against delay in payment to sugarcane farmers

Former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday warned incumbent Punjab Government led by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance against unwarranted delay in the payment to sugarcane farmers across Punjab by the state owned sugar mills.

He pointed out that the state-owned mills owed about Rs 250 crores to sugarcane growers which was pending for a long time now. He said farmers were being forced to protest.

Asking the government to set a deadline for releasing the payment to the sugarcane growers of the state, Capt Amarinder warned that the Congress will, otherwise, launch a state-wide agitation.

He said that the government has been asking the farmers to go for diversification and growing alternate crops like sugarcane but when it came to paying them for their produce, it has failed.

The former Chief Minister also said that there were thousands of sugarcane growers in the state who are awaiting the payment from the government. He expressed surprise as to how a government claiming itself to be the guardian of farmers' interests is letting them down.

He hoped that the government will make the payment to the farmers in a time bound manner so that they are not forced to come on roads and in case that happens, the Congress will launch protest dharnas all over the state. By Ravinder Singh Robin

.