Pay relief fund share quickly, CM tells sugar mill operators

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday asked sugar mills in Maharashtra to deposit their contribution towards the CM's Relief Fund immediately.

He said sugar mill operators had not paid their contribution towards the fund for previous as well as current year, and it was affecting help provided from the corpus.

The fund is used for relief work during drought, for medical support and to mitigate water scarcity situations.

"Since the contribution from sugar mills has not come in, there is a shortage of funds in the account and help to needy people has been affected. The fund is also meant for medical support to patients," said Fadnavis.

He was speaking at the 'Sugar Conference 2020', organised by Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank Limited here.

"The fund is not for my use. Give your contribution as soon as possible," he told sugar mill operators.

According to a Sugar Commissionerate official, mills are supposed to give Rs 4 per tonne after the cane crushing season to the CMRF, and total contribution from 150 mills in the state adds up to around Rs 36 crore.

The official said a corpus of Rs 6-7 crore has been built so far after the state government wrote to the sugar mill operators to clear their contribution.