OKARA: Like other districts, the sugarcane growers of Okara district have also been facing troubles in selling their crop as the Abdullah Sugar Mills and the Baba Farid Sugar Mills have yet to start crushing season though the official date of starting the season was Nov 30 under the Punjab Sugar Factories Act of 1950.

The Baba Farid mills administration told Dawn they would start the season in the next few days. They refused to comment on the payments of last year’s outstanding.

Not only the small farmers, parliamentarians from the area have also yet to receive their payments.

There is no dedicated official set up to redress farmers’ woes as a deputy commissioner (DC) and an assistant commissioner, despite having the powers of additional cane commissioner and assistant cane commissioner, are helpless in front of the powerful sugar barons.

Now, farmers have started to showing activism against sugar mills’ exploitation.

Sugarcane growers like Rai Siddiqueul Hassan Kharl and Rai Ifraheem Kharl, on behalf of their Farmers’ Friends Association (FFA)’ filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court on November 6, 2017 against respondents the Punjab government, the Punjab cane commissioner, the Okara DC, the assistant commissioner and the Baba Farid Sugar Mills seeking recovery of Rs39 million from the mills.

The cane commissioner told the court the mills had not defaulted on payment.

FFA activists and petitioners told this correspondent that according to the record available with them, the mills owed farmers Rs39.57 million and the mill was bound to pay the pending amount with 11 per cent interest under the law.

The petitioners said they had contacted Okara DC Saima Ahad and submitted details of the pending amounts but no action was taken.

Rai Ifraheem Kharal, who had moved the LHC on November 23, seeking the recovery of Rs1.3 million, had succeeded to get Rs1 million from the Baba Farid Sugar Mills. He is struggling to get the remaining money.

Farmers alleged mills also misused the sugarcane supply permits. As per law, the mills need to issue passbooks to farmers for the cane supply. Mills may have such figures in their records only, but on the ground no farmer is issued any such book.

A farmer said it was yet another exploitation by the mills by delaying the crushing season.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2017