Punjab’s Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Gurmeet Singh Khudian, has instructed department officials to transfer Rs. 1.05 crore into the bank accounts of sugarcane farmers from the Sangrur area by Monday. Additionally, he has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur to facilitate the release of pending payments (approximately Rs. 6.95 crores) from the Bhagwanpura Sugar Mill to farmers by the end of this month.
These directives were issued during a meeting with the Sangrur district administration, M/s Bhagwanpura Sugar Mill management, Dhuri, and representatives of the Ganna Kashatkar Sangharsh Committee, Dhuri, at the minister’s office on Thursday.
Displaying a sympathetic ear to the concerns of sugarcane farmers, Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian also mandated Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal to ensure that farmers do not encounter difficulties in selling their produce due to any unfair practices involving slow purchase and lifting of the sugarcane crop.
Authorities from Sangrur district informed the Agriculture Minister that approximately 2 lakh quintals of sugarcane from Bhagwanpura Sugar Mill had been processed through mills located in Amloh, Budhewal, Mukerian, and Nakodar, as the Dhuri unit was non-operational.
Highlighting the commitment of the Punjab Government to the welfare of state farmers, Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian assured that no one would be allowed to exploit the ‘annadata’ (food provider), and the interests of farmers would be safeguarded. He emphasized that Punjab leads the country in providing the maximum State Agreed Price (SAP) to sugarcane cultivators, and with the recent hike, farmers are now receiving Rs. 391 per quintal for their yield.
The meeting also saw the presence of Special Secretary Agriculture Sanyam Aggarwal, ADGP Jaskarn Singh, SSP Sangrur Sartaj Singh Chahal, Cane Commissioner Punjab Rajesh Kumar Raheja, and other officials from the concerned departments.
