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HYDERABAD, Dec 1: The National Labour Federation has criticized the managements of sugar mills in Sindh for refusing to resume sugarcane crushing and said that they are blackmailing farmers.
The provincial president of the NLF, Rana Mehmood Ali Khan, in a statement issued here on Wednesday, said that the sugar mills had made it clear that they would stop the crushing from December 2 and the Sindh chief minister appeared to be helpless before them.
He said that the date for starting the crushing season had been changed several times, notwithstanding an announcement made by chief minister that the mill owners would be arrested if they defied the orders of the government in this regard.
He said that the sugar mill owners were offering only Rs36 to Rs40 for 40kg of sugarcane to the farmers and not the price notified by the government and added that they were blackmailing the growers to sell sugarcane at less than the fixed price.
On the other hand, the NLF leader said, that the Shah Murad, Faran, Al-Asif and other sugar mills had terminated the services of a large number of permanent and seasonal employees to avoid payment of bonus under the labour laws.
He said that contract system had been introduced in the sugar mills which had affected the production process. He called upon the Sindh government to take notice of the obduracy of the mill owners.
SPLA: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association at its annual convention held at the Muslim Science College here on Tuesday amended the constitution of the association.
It extended the term of office-bearers of the association to two years. The meeting demanded that the government should resolve problems of teachers on permanent basis.
It further demanded that a notification with regard to promotions and move-over cases should be issued without delay and 1,000 vacant posts in colleges should be filled immediately. It said educational boards of the province should be handed over to the education department. It opposed privatization of educational institutes.
