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LAHORE, Sept 18: The thirty-nine (39) sugar mills in the province owe Rs906 million to growers, says a report prepared by the Cane Commissioner Office.
Disputing the figure, farmers claim that the size of the outstanding amount is much more than the one provided to the cane commissioner by the mills. The cane commissioner office does not have any independent source of confirmation of the figures and has to rely upon what is fed to it by the mills.
According to the cane commissioner’s office, the farmers’ dues have fluctuated between Rs264 million and Rs2 billion during the last six years.
During 2002-03, the millers purchased 27.49 million tons of cane at a total cost of Rs25.364 billion. Out of it, Rs24.445 billion were cleared by the mills, leaving a default of Rs906 million.
The report further says that during the last six years, the area under cane cultivation increased from 16.92 million acres to 18.44 million acres.
COMPLAINTS: The industry is plagued by complaints of under-weighing of cane by the millers, delay in payments to growers, partial payments or purchase of CPRs at reduced rates, unauthorized weigh bridges and purchase points established by middlemen, delay in clearing cane cess and surplus stocks of sugar.
In order to remove these problems, the department plans to impose interest under Rule 14(10) for delay in payments to farmers. In case of no or partial payments, it plans to energetically enforce Section 22.
It has also asked the district governments and labour department to actively ensure proper weighing of cane and take action against unauthorized weigh bridges. The department also plans to simplify rules besides recommending the export of surplus sugar to stabilize the local market.
