Citing the model code of conduct in place for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India denied permission to the Centre to announce a relief package for sugar mills and sugercane growers. Uttar Pradesh, one of the major sugercane growing states, will see Assembly polls from April 7.The Centre had approved the creation of a 20 lakh tonne sugar buffer, besides providing export incentives of Rs 1,350 to Rs 1,450 per tonne to mills. The package meant to deal with the present sugar glut was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Saturday. However, the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies was waiting for the EC nod to make a formal announcement of the package.As part of the relief package, the Centre was to subsidise the mills to create the 20 lakh tonne buffer. The total buffer quantity would be allocated among mills on a pro-rata basis, linked to the stocks individually held by them. According to estimates, it would have cost the Central government close to Rs 400 crores.The CCEA has also cleared export incentive of Rs 1,350 per tonne to sugar mills in the coastal areas (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat) and Rs 1,450 per tonne for factories in UP and other northern states. The ministry, in the same Cabinet note, had further recommended an additional Rs 440 per tonne support for raw sugar exports.The decision would have had a direct impact on the sugar mills and farmers in the election-bound UP. Sources in the EC said permission was refused as the decision could be seen as providing benefit to sugarcane farmers and mill owners in UP.Officials in the government, however, said since the move was meant to benefit all sugarcane growers and mill owners in clearing accumulated debt, the Centre had expected the EC to clear the proposal.Earlier, the EC had stopped the government from expanding the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to other districts, despite Parliament nod.The government sources pointed out that implementation of several policies, especially the NREGA has been affected by the model code. “We have elections happening every three months. The government cannot possibly suspend implementation of policies all round the year,” an official remarked.
