Madurai: Sugarcane farmers from Madurai and surrounding areas held a protest outside the Collector’s office on Tuesday, calling for the government to allocate funds to reopen the National Cooperative Sugar Mills in Alanganallur, reports The Hindu.
N Palanisamy, the state vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association, led the demonstration. He explained that the sugar mill, which had been operating successfully until 2018, was forced to close in 2019 due to a drought that severely impacted sugarcane production.
“Even though sugarcane production has recovered in recent years, the government has not taken any steps to reopen the mill,” he stated.
He recalled that the prolonged closure of the mill resulted in job losses for workers and financial hardship for sugarcane farmers, leading to a 46-day continuous protest outside the mill.
In 2022, in response to the protests, the then Minister for Agriculture formed a committee to assess the condition of the mill and its equipment.
The committee estimated that 27 crore rupees were needed to restore the mill to working order. “Following this, work began on installing an electricity substation on the mill premises, with a budget of 100 crore rupees,” Mr. Palanisamy said.
However, the substation installation was halted when approximately 80% of the work was complete, causing disappointment among mill workers and sugarcane farmers.
With sugarcane production now increasing and more farmers growing sugarcane, the protesters are demanding that the Tamil Nadu government announce the reopening of the mill in the upcoming budget.
“Following the announcement, field workers should be hired to inspect and record sugarcane production in the region,” they added.
They also requested that sugarcane with a sugar recovery rate of 9% be purchased for 5,500 rupees per tonne. They argued that the current procurement rate is too low, and the government should set a better price to cover labor and production costs.
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