Increase sugarcane SAP to ₹400 per quintal: Partap Bajwa writes to CM Mann
The Congress on Monday demanded a minimum increase of ₹20 per quintal in the State Agreed Price (SAP) of sugarcane in Punjab to take it to ₹400 per quintal for the 2023-24 season.
The demand was raised by leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa in a letter to chief minister Bhagwant Mann in which he also asked the state government to initiate proactive steps to expedite early procurement of sugar crop from cane growers in Punjab to provide them much-needed relief from their ongoing hardships.
In the letter, the Congress leader also took up the issues related to outstanding payments from the previous year and the delay in the commencement of sugar mill operations. “The Punjab Sugarcane (Purchase and Supply Regulation) Act, 1953, under Section 15A, mandates the arrangement of payment of the price of cane within a stipulated period. If the delay exceeds 14 days from the date of supply to the factory, interest becomes payable. However, the sugar mills in Dhuri and Phagwara are yet to clear payments amounting to ₹20 crore and ₹45 crore, respectively, to the farmers,” he wrote.
Bajwa said the Punjab government, through its notification on November 8, 2023, directed the sugar mills to commence operations from November 21, but no mill has initiated the crushing season. He said the use of the phrase “from 21.11.2023” in the notification, instead of “by 21.11.2023”, has resulted in a delayed start to the crushing season. The crop has matured in its natural course, leaving the farmers in a predicament as the mills have not started procuring sugarcane, he added.
He also said the farmers have been hit hard by a series of unfortunate events, including the onslaught of floods and the outbreak of “Red Rot” disease on the CO238 variety that has led to a 50% loss in crop yield. “In the absence of special girdawari of sugarcane in the flood-affected areas in districts such as Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Fazilka, etc., the farmers are yet to receive compensation. Given that the farmers in Punjab cultivate CO238 in 50% of the crop area, their woes have been further exacerbated,” he said.
