‘Good news’ for sugarcane growers soon, says CM; farmers end highway blockade
Chandigarh: Punjab government would give farmers “good news” soon by hiking the state agreed price (SAP) for sugarcane, Bhagwant Mann announced on Friday. He said even the protesting farmer unions had assured him of lifting the highway blockade. By the evening, normal traffic was restored on the national highway (NH-44) after the farm groups lifted the blockade.
The blockade from the railway track was lifted at noon.
The farm groups had started the blockade of NH-44 on Tuesday, while the railway track was blocked on Thursday, causing inconvenience to the commuters and rail passengers.
The decision of the farmers came on the fourth day of their demonstration after a meeting here between union leaders and the chief minister, which lasted for more than 90 minutes.
Speaking to media persons later, Mann said, “The issue has been resolved and the announcements will follow. The railway track has already been vacated and the farmers’ unions have agreed to clear the national highway. The farmers’ unions agreed that in future such protests should be avoided as it is the common people who suffer.”
Demanding a hike in sugarcane prices from Rs 380 per quintal to Rs 450 per quintal, farmers had blocked the Jalandhar national highway. They had stepped up their protest by blocking a railway track on Thursday, but this was lifted after the Punjab government announced the meeting.
Without specifying the quantum of the proposed increase in SAP, Mann said, “The sugarcane growers will get good news in the coming days, in terms of the rate they get or the compensation on account of damages suffered during the floods. Punjab would continue to give the highest rate to sugarcane cultivators of the state in the coming times… The unions will have to give up the practice of blocking roads for the sake of saving their cadres.”
Mann added, “Punjab has always been ahead in providing (increased) rates to the sugarcane cultivators and now also this trend will be continued. The state government was giving Rs 380 per quintal as SAP for sugarcane, which was highest in the country till Haryana recently hiked it to Rs 386 per quintal. We will soon give good news to the farmers by upward revision of this price, after having a meeting with the sugarcane mill owners in the coming days.”
“For the first time in the history of the state, this government has cleared all the pending arrears of sugarcane farmers, which were inherited from the previous governments. The state has 16 sugar mills, out of which nine are in the cooperative sector while the others are private. Payments from two private mills in Phagwara and Dhuri are pending and wheels have been set in motion for recovering the dues and paying them to the farmers, after selling these properties,” he said.
A day after he advised the farmers’ unions not to put common man to inconvenience by blocking roads, Mann reiterated to the farmers that “his doors are open for dialogue and harassment of common man on pretext of protests is totally unacceptable”.
He said the trend needed to be checked. He added that it was heartening to know that the farmer unions have given affirmative response to it.
