Outstanding dues touch `7.82 cr, Dhuri sugar mill to be auctioned on Sept 14

The auction will be done as per Punjab land revenue Act clause 75, states the order. The order further stated that a total of Rs 13.78 crore was outstanding against the mill and that has to be paid to the farmers for their sugarcane crop supplied to this mill. However, the managing director and deputy general manager had repeatedly sought extensions in payment and till date, Rs 7.82 crore is outstanding.

Avtar Singh Tari, a farmer from Bhullar Kheri village and a member of Ganna Sanghrash committee, Dhuri, grows sugarcane in about 3.5 acres and welcomed the decision to auction the mill.

“We had staged several dharnas in the past finally after the auction, farmers will get their dues. Around 500 farmers of Sangrur, Malerkotla, Barnala and even Haryana have pending dues against this mill. A total of 5,000 acres of sugarcane crop grown in and around this area comes to the mill,” he said.

Sarabjeet Singh, another farmer from Dhuri and also a member of the committee, said, “We want the government to keep in mind that the mill should go in hands of someone who can run it, otherwise 5,000 acres of sugarcane crop will be another headache. There will be no place to take them.”

Avtar added that the last owner had taken over the sugar mill in 2005 and problems started from 2012-13 onwards. “Dharnas had become a norm outside the mill on a regular basis. We organised day-night dharnas in 2017, during the 2022 Assembly polls. During the Sangrur bypoll, we had gheraoed the SDM office several times,” he said.

Of Rs 7.82 crore, nearly Rs 55 lakh belong to Haryana farmers. Majority of the pending amount is of 2021-22 sugarcane season while some Haryana farmers have to take their pending amount from 2020-21 season.

Avtar added that earlier the they used to grow sugarcane in 21,000 acres and now it has reduced to 5,000 acres.

Earlier, in 2019, a similar auction notice was issued by the then Congress government against the mill, however, the mill cleared the dues and it was not auctioned.

Sugarcane farmers said that CM Bhagwant Mann had promised them that they will get the dues cleared by September 7.

However, it happened only in the case of cooperative sugar mills and private sugar mills failed to turn up. The Indian Express tried contact Jaipal Thakur, GM of the sugar mill, but he couldn’t be reached.