Pay Rs 22 cr dues to cane growers by selling mill property: Punjab min

Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal directed officials to sell the property of a sugar mill to make pending payments to the cane growers

Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Monday directed officials to sell the property of a sugar mill to make pending payments to the cane growers.

A decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Dhaliwal with the representatives of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) and Sandhar Sugar Mill, Phagwara, according to an official release.

Taking a tough stand against the management of the mill on making due payment to sugarcane farmers, the minister directed the officers of the department to ensure that out of the Rs 72 crore pending payment towards the farmers, an amount of Rs 22 crore must be realised soon and credited into the accounts of farmers by selling the property of the mill at Bhuna in Haryana.

The minister ordered an audit of the mill to be conducted by thoroughly looking into all aspects.

"Corruption would not be tolerated at any cost," said the Minister, who also directed the officers to issue a notice to the mill management to pay the remaining amount of Rs 50 crore otherwise the mill will have to close operations by November this year.

Dhaliwal stated that the Punjab government was committed to the welfare of the farming community, which forms the backbone of the economy of Punjab, and would leave no stone unturned to protect their interests.