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Sugar & Health
ID:
9
Date:
29-11-2011
Headline:
Pressure applied by UP Govt. on sugar mills unjustified
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The Financial Express on 29th November, 2011 has carried a news report titled `UP lodges FIRs against sugar mill owners over irregularities`. The paper reports that the Government in UP has filed FIRs for non-bailable arrest warrants against 12 sugar factories for alleged irregularities and malpractices in the weighment of cane in their respective mills. The mill owners who are indicted by the UP government include top industrialists — Bajaj Hindusthan Group`s CMD Kushagra Bajaj and MD Shishir Bajaj, Vivek Saraogi, CMD of Balrampur Chini, Dhruv Mohan Sawhney, MD of the Triveni Group, RK Morarka, MD of Dwarikesh Group.
According to a highly placed source in the government, the FIRs are filled for violation of the Essential Commodities Act.
Industry is shocked and surprised at the allegations put forth by the government in UP. The weighment of cane is carried out on a mass scale every year, under the strict vigil of the state government machinery. Under such strict supervision, under-weighing of cane next to impossible.
Moreover, the factories in their own interest and in the interest of healthy relations with the sugarcane farmers are strictly against such unhealthy practices. To ensure correct weighing of cane, factories have installed automatic tamper proof weigh bridges at their factory gates and have a regular system of weighment checking at the out-centres by the senior officers.
In fact the arm-twisting tactics of the government in UP has become a recurring phenomenon every year. The mill owners in the state are implicated without a sound reason.
Mr. Sanjay Banerjee, Head, Communication and Information of ISMA says, “If such high-handedness of the UP government continues year after year, it will become very difficult to operate our mills in UP. We are already facing huge financial constraints. The millers in UP are grappling with the problem of excessively high State Advised Cane price. And the recent announcement of a steep increase in SAP for the current crushing season has dealt a heavy blow to the millers. Adding to their woes is the FIRs which have been lodged by the government which can prove to be the last nail in the coffin. The environment is not conducive for running industry in the state”.
Mr. Banerjee further added, “ Even if stray cases of irregularities are found, the state government should investigate the role of local officials and weighment clerks of the sugar factories. Senior officials of the sugar mills should not be treated like this, who in all fairness use the best practices in tandem with the law of the land. This is simply an arm-twisting by the government”.
Mr. S.L. Gupta, Secretary, UPSMA added, “there are full fledged provisions in UP Sugarcane (regulation of supply and purchase) Act, 1953 and Rules and Order made thereunder to deal with such irregularities. There is no such provision of filing FIRs for any such irregularities and issue of such non-bailable warrants”.
It`s an appeal to the state government in UP to look at the plight of sugar millers and not act in an arbitrary fashion.
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