Action against sugar mills not abiding by law, says minister

Government will take action against sugar mills which do not abide by law regarding payment of dues to farmers, Karnataka Cooperative Minister Mahadeva Prasad said today.
The minister's response came to a question about a few mill owners - who are ministers-allegedly not abiding by the rules about payment of dues to sugarcane farmers.
Asked what action will be taken against the sugar mill owners for violating norms, the minister said the government would seize the commodity and book a case against them.
"We will pay dues to the farmers after selling the seized sugar from sugar mills - these are some of the actions which we can take under the provisions of the law," he said.

Prasad said notices have been served to the sugar mill owners to pay the dues, failing which action will be initiated against them. "Already notices have been served to sugar factories through deputy commissioners. Government will take action based on their replies," he said.
He said sugar mill owners should mandatorily pay Rs 2,500 a tonne as the price for crushing sugarcane in the state. He also said the sugar mill owners faced problems in the event of a cut in the sugar price which is making difficult for them to pay more to farmers.