Pawar pulls up sugar coops for slack show

Says industry should stop expecting govt sops

The sugar cooperative industry on Saturday came in for a dressing down from its own perceived guardian, Sharad Pawar, the agriculture minister, who bluntly asked its managers to stick to fiscal discipline and run the business professionally.

Referring to falling sugar prices and the resultant unrest in the cooperative sugar factory belt in the state, Pawar said it was now time for the leaders of the sector to stop expecting government sops to tide over each crisis that they faced in the aftermath of changed market equations.

Pawar, addressing annual general meeting of Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) at Manjri near here, told the assembled members of various sugar cooperatives to opt for co-generation of electricity in their establishments along with manufacturing of ethanol to support their financial viability.

Maharashtra is facing a power crunch and the co-generation in sugar cooperatives could help ease the situation on state's power front subjected to severe load-shedding, Pawar said.

The factories would have to pay the statutory minimum price, he said, adding the managements should do away with irregularities in their functioning which were proving detrimental to the sector's economic health.

In a caustic remark, Pawar said, "There seems to be a mistrust existing between managements of the sugar cooperatives and the sugar-cane cultivating farmer members which is taking its toll on the sector's vibrancy."

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, too, joined Pawar in calling upon the hitherto pampered sugar cooperative sector in the state to face realities and understand that the government had many other priorities and obligations towards other segments of industries to fulfil.

Deshmukh said the managements of sugar cooperative sector should increase efficiency by cutting production cost and should not be dependent on the government each time to come to its rescue. The chief minister also emphasised that the SMP would have to be paid in two installments by factory managements.

Patangrao Kadam, state cooperative minister, continued in the same vein and asked the sugar industry to shed the crutches in the form of government support to sustain it.

Kadam also questioned the utility of the research being carried out at VSI and wondered why the conversion cost of the production was subject to wide variations in each cooperative factory.