Disappointed with Sindh govt, farmers seek Bilawal's help

PPP govt accused of exploiting growers

HYDERABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party's Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been requested to intervene and settle the ongoing sugarcane crushing conflict in favour of the farmers.

In an open letter to Bilawal on Saturday, a non-profit organisation working for farmers' rights stated that the PPP government is exploiting the farmers in the same way for which the PPP used to criticize Punjab government.

"The same treatment for which you criticised Nawaz Sharif's Punjab government is being given to farmers in Sindh," the letter, written by Hyderabad Sindh Agriculture Research Council, alleged.

The letter alluded to PPP Parliamentarians' chairperson and Bilawal's father Asif Ali Zardari for the plight of the sugarcane farmers because Zardari allegedly owns 17 to 19 sugar mills through his front men. "This [allegation] also echoed in Sindh Assembly by a member of the opposition few days ago."



Every year the farmers take to the streets to protest the delay in officially notifying the start of the crushing season and fixing the crop's price, which is also acceptable to the growers. Under the Sindh Sugar Factories Control Act, 1950, the Sindh government is stipulated to issue the notification in the month of October each year.

On November 14 and November 17, Sindh Sugarcane Control Board called meetings in Karachi. The provincial minister and secretary of agriculture department, cane commissioner Sindh, an eight-member delegation of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Sindh Abadgar Board, Sindh Chamber of Agriculture and Sindh Abadgar Ittehad attended these meetings. However, both the meetings ended inconclusively.

The millers pressured the government to increase the price of sugar to at least Rs70 per kilogramme if its proposed rate of Rs182 per 40 kilogramme of sugarcane was to be fixed. They argued for a still higher price of sugar at Rs90 per kg if the farmers' demand of setting Rs200 per 40 kg was to be accepted. The date for starting the sugarcane crushing was not decided either.



"The farmers in Sindh have become disappointed with Sindh government's inaction," the letter read. "The current situation reminds them of Benazir Bhutto who always took decisions in favour of the farmers."