Stern action against sugar mills failing to pay growers: UP CM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Tuesday warned that a stern action will be taken against sugar mills which will fail to clear pending sugarcane payments of farmers by October 15.

"Our aim is to bring the poor and farmers in the mainstream ... if sugar mills do not make payments by October 15, the mill owners will be taken to task," he said.

Yogi was here along with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to lay the foundation of the Delhi-Saharanpur National Highway.

"We have given soft loans to the sugar mills for this work ... we will not tolerate any kind of laxity in the works concerning the poor and farmers," the chief minister said and exhorted cane farmers to also try cultivating other crops keeping in mind their proximity with Delhi market.

"You need to try hands at growing crops other than sugarcane. Sugar makes people fall ill. Grow other crops. Delhi market is close by to sell your produce," he said.

UP Cane Development Minister Suresh Rana said Monday the state will ensure the entire cane arrears of around Rs 10,000 crore are paid to farmers before the start of the new season from October.

A proposal to provide Rs 5,535 crore for the purpose of clearing cane dues of both cooperative and private sector will be placed before the cabinet in the coming week, he said.

Sugarcane crushing season in Uttar Pradesh, the country's leading sugar producing state, starts from October 20 and continues till November 5.

"Cane arrears have come down to around Rs 10,000 crore. We have kept a target to bring the dues to zero before the start of the new season from October 20," Rana said on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the National Federation of Sugar Factories Ltd (NFSFL) in Delhi.

The state produces 38 per cent of the country's total sugar production of 32 million tonnes in the 2017-18 season (October-September).

Spelling out the steps taken by his govenment to help farmers, Adityanath said power supply has been ensured without any discrimination, unlike the previous governments.

"The SP-BSP governments did not give tubewell connections to provide adequate water...besides Gadkariji has also given good roads to you all," he said.

Noting that his government was working towards providing jobs to the unemployed, he said, "There are 97,000 posts of teachers which are vacant in the state. Besides recruitment will also be made on 90,000 posts in the police... sportsmen will also get government jobs."