Maharashtra Assembly polls: Sugarcane labourers, millers lock horns over crushing season date
In Maharashtra, sugarcane laborers and millers are in dispute over the sugarcane crushing season’s start date due to the state assembly elections. Millers, backed by the Western Indian Sugar Mills Association, advocate for a November 15 start, aligning with ethanol supply commitments. However, laborers, particularly from districts like Beed, prefer a post-election start after November 20 to enable them to vote. Labor representative Jeevan Rathod has petitioned the Bombay High Court to delay the start, noting that some laborers have already migrated to other states.
The sugarcane labourers and millers of Maharashtra are at loggerheads over the date to kick start the sugarcane crushing season. As Maharashtra is the only sugar producing state where the state government decides on the date of the season, the millers have asked the authorities to keep the date on November 15, while the harvesting labourers want it to be after November 20 – the date of Assembly elections.
In view of the state Assembly elections, the state government has fixed November 15 as the start date of the season. However, concerns have been raised whether the labourers, mainly hailing from the districts of Beed, Ahmednagar, Amravati and Jalgaon, would be able to vote in the elections as they would shift to the site of the sugar mills once the season starts.
But mill owners, on the other hand, argue that if the start of the season is delayed to November-end, the mills will not be able to supply ethanol as per their contract with the oil marketing companies for the month of November.
On Tuesday, Bhairavnath B Thombare, chairman of the Western Indian Sugar Mills Association (WISMA), wrote to the state government to ensure that the crushing season starts on November 15.
WISMA, which is the body of private sugar mills in the state, also said the delay in starting of the season would see largescale migration of harvesting labourers to states like Karnataka and Gujarat, putting the Maharashtra’s industry in crisis.
Earlier, the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, had also pointed out that any delay in the start of the season would be disastrous for the sector.
Ahead of the season, the workers constituting around 5-6 lakh would temporarily migrate to crushing sites.
Jeevan Rathod, who represents an organisation of sugarcane harvesters of Beed, has moved the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court to ensure that workers are allowed to exercise their franchise on November 20. He pointed out that already 30 per cent of the labourers from Beed has gone to other states. “We want the state government to ensure the labourers are allowed to vote. Hence, the only solution would be to push back the crushing date by 5 days,” he said.
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