Dhuri sugar mill crisis: To protest slow sugarcane procurement, farmers plan rail roko from December 27

Farmer unions like Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Azad), BKU (Dakaunda), Kirti Kisan Union and others will join hands in the protest led by Ganna Sangharsh Committee (Punjab).

Dhuri sugar mill had announced (issued notice) on February 28 this year that the mill won’t operate next year and had advised farmers not to sow sugarcane crop. On October 27 this year, it had officially announced closure of the sugar mill but had assured the farmers to procure sugarcane during the pre-notice period. The crushing season in Punjab’s sugar mills started from December 7 onwards.

Farmers had earlier staged a dharna against the mill management and Punjab government from December 10 to December 13 on the Dhuri-Malerkotla main road.

“We were asked by Sangrur administration to give sugarcane to Mukerian sugar mill or the Amloh sugar mill. To protest against it we had staged a dharna that was lifted on December 13 after we were assured that the cane will be procured by the Dhuri sugar mill management from December 15 onwards and they will issue payment slips with a stamp of both Dhuri and Hoshiarpur’s Mukerian sugar mills (both owned by same person). But they didn’t keep their word, and as a result, till date not more than 800 quintals of sugarcane has been procured by the mill management. We had a meeting with the cane commissioner (Punjab) in Dhuri on December 21 but to no avail,” said Harjit Singh Bugra, president of Ganna Sangharsh Committee, while talking to The Indian Express.

Avtar Singh Tari, a sugarcane farmer, said, “Now, the Sangrur administration authorities are giving options to farmers to take sugarcane to Budhewal sugar mill in Ludhiana district, or to Amloh sugar mill in Fatehgarh Sahib district, or to Nakodar sugar mill in Jalandhar district. It seems that the mill management is running away from its responsibility of procuring sugarcane this season as well.”

Farmers say out of around 6 lakh quintals of sugarcane to be procured, around 5.5 lakh quintals was earmarked for Amloh sugar mill, while the rest for Mukerian sugar mill. Payment was to be done by Mukerian mill within a fortnight for the entire stock.

“As Dhuri sugar mill is going too slow in procuring sugarcane, it’s creating panic among farmers. It was the responsibility of the mill to take sugarcane and send it to the respective mills on their own, but now it seems that the administration is acting smart, and due to slow procurement, many farmers are taking the stock on their own to Amloh sugar mill. But this is not justified. Why should farmers bear this extra cost?” said Jaswinder Singh Longowal, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Azad).

Amloh sugar mill is located at about 70 km from Dhuri, while Mukerian sugar mill is at about 200 km from Dhuri.

The decision to hold the rail roko was taken in a meeting held by various farmer unions on the Dhuri sugar mill premises.

The rail roko on the main Dhuri line can affect the main Delhi railway line, that is, trains going towards Delhi from Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and others will be impacted if the protest is organised on this track.

Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal and Dhuri Sub-Divisional Magistrate Amit Gupta were not available for comments.