MUMBAI, Dec 9: Robbing both Peter and Paul to pay themselves, a large section of sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra might yet find it is difficult to fool all of the people all the time.Since the time the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance took over the reigns in the state, several sugar co-operatives appear to have taken advantage of their ignorance in matters of governance to manoeuvre them into putting their stamp of approval on an essentially ``illegal'' pricing structure of cane sugar.A detailed compilation by the State Co-operation department reveals that farmers have been done out of their legitimate dues while these have been charged to consumers. The difference seems to have been pocketed by the co-operatives, all the more appalling because the figures run into Rs 400 crore, according to Madhukar Sarpotdar, the Sena Parliamentary Party leader in the just dissolved Lok Sabha.For the sugar factories have been routinely deducting Rs 10 per quintal as harvesting charges from sugar cane farmers when the official rate is only 32 paise per quintal. And the amount so deducted has been worked into the levy price of sugar. The difference has been swelling the pockets of sugar co-operatives, Sarpotdar has charged in a letter to the Union Ministry for Food and Consumer Affairs.Taking a serious note of this double-fleecing, Sarpotdar also demanded that the ministry probe the non-payment of the statutory minimum prince (SMP) of cane fixed by the Central government. The SMP is binding on all sugar mills. Ironically, however, the Sena-BJP alliance might have only itself to blame for failing to be vigilant. But the Sena hopes that now that the investigation has been set into motion (the probe has been ordered by the Centre shortly before the fall of the UF government), sugar barons in western Maharashtra who have been attempting to take all three sectors for a ride, might yet meet their just desserts.Sarpotdar appears to have based his claims on a letter he received from Maharahstra's Minister for Co-operation Jaiprakash Mundada admitting that while the factories paid up the SMP until 1994-95, they have skirted the statutory requirements through various means in 1995-96 and 1996-97. This has been the exact time that the Sena-BJP has been in power in Maharashtra. And this alleged dishonesty on the part of sugar barons is being seen as a subtle expression of the attempt to discredit the government in the eyes of the farmers while at the same time making good on the ignorance of the Sena-BJP regime in these matters.However, now that the SPP has caught on, they might have to shell up the dues or face closure of their mills, says sugar cooperative leader Kanhaiyalal Gidwani who has been instrumental in bringing the discrepancies to the notice of his party leaders. Sarpotdar has worked out the figures taking into consideration the Government of India's formula of linking the basic cane price to 8.5 per cent recovery. The recovery in Maharashtra stands far higher at between 9 and 11 per cent. ``In this manner approximately Rs 400 crore of farmers' money has been simply siphoned off by the co-operative sugar factories in Maharashtra,'' says Sarpotdar. ``Both farmers as well as consumers' interests have thus been sacrificed,'' he says.With the harvesting and crushing season currently in progress, a swift investigation could bring results bang in the middle of the election campaign. As both the government and the co-operatives have been accused of throwing farmers' and consumers' interests to the winds, it is a toss-up as to who wins this latest battle between sugar barons, generally belonging to the Congress, and the Sena-BJP alliance.
