Till date the mills haven’t paid their dues
BADIN: In Pakistan, the sugar industry is the second largest. Around 28 mills are located in Sindh. But overtime there has been a great shift in the relationship and interests of farmers and mill owners. The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association has emerged as a strong association for the owners only to safeguard their interests, earn benefits and exploit the sugarcane growers, while the interests of farmers are largely neglected. Public debate on it results in hosts of problems for the sugarcane growers, which include delay in crushing season by the sugar millers and price fix by the Sindh government and the late and low payments to the farmers by the millers.
During 2014-15, the Agriculture, Supply & Price Department of Sindh fixed the minimum price of sugarcane at Rs182 per 40kg. However, the mill owners disagreed with it and compelled the government to issue another notification with revised minimum price at Rs155. But this notification was challenged in the Sindh High Court in the constitutional petition CP No-D 554 of 2014, hence, the court, with the consent of the mills, passed the order directing the government to pay Rs12 and every mill to pay Rs5, resulting in a total of Rs17 per maund to each grower, at the rate of Rs172 per 40kg. The consequence of this decision was that the mills showed a reduced total number of growers and maunds while presenting them to the government.
Till date the mills haven’t paid their dues. Although many growers protested and some even filed recovery suits, nothing fruitful occurred.
In Badin mill owners use the influence of local politicians, district administration and the local police to harass thousands of growers. The arrest of local sugarcane growers in an attempt to make them withdraw their claims for payment of arrears is a daily routine. A few days ago the local police, headed by a DSP, in collusion with a local sugar mills administration, arrested a sugarcane grower. They kept him under illegal confinement for many days, for filing a lawsuit against the mill demanding his outstanding amount of half a million rupees. He was released after he was forced to drop the case and given two blank cheques.
Neither politicians, local district administration nor the government has come forward to get the court’s decision implemented and help thousands of poor sugarcane growers to get their dues.
Fayaz Hussain Abro
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2017.
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