Sugar mills asked to pay farmers as per FRP
The Hindu
KALABURAGI
Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Yeshwant Gurukar has directed sugar factories in the district to pay sugarcane farmers as per the fixed fair and remunerative price (FRP) and transport subsidy accordingly as per the notification issued by the Sugar Commissioner’s office.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Gurukar said that as per the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 (Clause 6), a bilateral agreement between the sugar factories and farmers for sugarcane registration, sugarcane supply, and FRP payments is mandatory according to a new notification issued by the Karnataka Sugar Commissioner. The agreement document copies would be prepared by the Deputy Commissioner’s office and issued to all the farmers and sugar factories through tahsildars.
Mr. Gurukar said that he will ensure strict action against sugar factories if they failed to pay as per FRP or withhold payments due to farmers for the sugarcane supplied to them for more than the stipulated period.
He expressed that the bilateral agreement was a novel measure to eliminate all hurdles of the cane growers, such as practice of delayed payments and also avoid middlemen menace, to help farmers gain maximum profit.
Each sugar factory would appoint two supervisors to monitor timely harvesting. The factories would inform the farmers prior to harvest. Two rapid teams have been formed that will conduct surprise checks of weighing machines of sugar factories and strict action against factories if found violating any law. The district administration has set up a helpline for sugarcane farmers, and a team of officials will visit the field within 24 hours of the complaint being registered.
Mr. Gurukar, providing payment details, said that NSL Sugars at Bhusnoor in Aland taluk has cleared long-pending FRP dues of ₹26,095 lakh, Renuka Sugars in Havalaga had cleared dues of ₹41,495.87 lakh, and Ugar Sugars of Malli village in Jewargi taluk had cleared ₹16,453.37 lakh for sugarcane crushed during 2021-22. Similarly, Coregreen Sugar Factory in Yadgir district cleared dues of ₹18,851.52 lakh.
A sum of ₹1,028.95 crore dues has been cleared by all the four sugar factories for crushing nearly 34,18,965 tonnes of sugarcane during 2021-22.