PUNE, Dec 25: Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar today took the sugar barons to task by asking them to mend their ways to make the sugar factories more efficient and professional to face global competition.Addressing the 42nd annual meeting of Maharashtra Rajya Sahkari Sakhar Sangh Ltd here, Pawar expressed his displeasure over the manner in which several sugar factories were being run. Cautioning that restrictions on export and import trade were all set to be lifted in future, Pawar said the sugar industry could survive in the changing the situation only if they were run professionally.Pawar also expressed his impatience about several `irregularities' in the sugar factories. He asked the directors to be more careful while deciding the rate of the molasses. Pawar said no mistake was permissible while finalising the rate of molasses.Asking the sugar barons to bring down administrative expenses purchases and other overheads, Pawar said the directors should stop giving arbitrary increments to officers close to them. They should not also insist on redundant recruitment of labour even if they aided them during electioneering. Pawar observed that the directors should make the announced payment to the farmers even if they were not members of the factory. He said paying the non-member farmer less was against the spirit of the cooperative movement.Pawar strongly criticised the Central Government's decision to import sugar even though the country had a stock of 54 lakh tonnes. He said the BJP-led Government was talking of swadeshi but its decisions would destroy the swadeshi industries. Pawar said they would pressure the Government to reverse its decision on sugar import.Pawar said the Government had imported 11 lakh tonnes of sugar from Pakistan and signed another agreement of importing 7,800 tonnes recently. He wanted to know why the Government should spend valuable foreign exchange on Pakistan. Pawar said the food ministry was against the sugar import while finance ministry was against stopping it. He said the Government had anticipated the production of 150 lakh tonnes of sugar in the current year. He feared that more than 41 lakh tonne sugar would be lying in the godowns if the government continues to import the sugar. Pawar said the Finance Minister's fear that the sugar price would skyrocket if the sugar was not imported, was based on wrong assumption.
