Sugarcane Farmers Reject CACP Proposal to Allow Sugar Mills Pay Sugarcane Dues to Farmers in Installments NITI Aayog has been pushing for amendments to the Sugar Control Act to enable sugar mills to pay 60% of the sugarcane dues within 14 days of the procurement, another 20% of the dues within a period of next one month and the balance 20% within a period of next one month or after the sale of the total sugar stock.
All India Sugarcane Farmers’ Federation
21st October, 2021
Reject CACP Proposal to Allow Sugar Mills Pay Sugarcane Dues to Farmers in Installments
The Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has recommended that the Sugar Mills may be permitted to pay the Fair Remuneration Price (FRP) announced by the Union Government to the sugarcane farmers in installments, and this may be implemented from the current 2021-22 grinding season. This is on the pretext that sugar mills are obtaining loans from the banks by mortgaging the sugar produced by them due to which they have to pay additional interests. The recommendation aims to safeguard the interests of sugar mills by putting sugarcane farmers to great harm. All India Sugarcane Farmers’ Federation is of the opinion that it is against the interests of farmers and calls for the rejection of this arbitrary, pro-corporate, anti-farmer recommendation.
The move is a culmination of efforts initiated by the NITI Aayog. It has been pushing for Amendments to the Sugar Control Act to enable sugar mills to pay 60% of the sugarcane dues within 14 days of the procurement, another 20% of the dues within a period of next one month and the balance 20% within a period of next one month or after the sale of the total sugar stock. Following this, the CACP has recommended that sugar mills may be permitted to pay sugarcane dues to the farmers in installments. It is a total injustice to the sugarcane farmers who raise the crop with their hard labour over a period of one year, have to wait for another six months after harvesting and dispatch of sugarcane to the mills.
According to Sugarcane Control Act 1966, sugar mills have to pay the dues to the farmers within 14 days of the procurement. In case of default, dues are to be paid to the farmers with 15% interest. This Act is being diluted by the Union Government in favour of sugar mill owners. Farmers, who have put in their hard labour to cultivate sugarcane over a period of one year, have to wait for 6 months after the dispatch of sugarcane to get their dues from the sugar mills. This leads to a funds crunch for the next cultivation. Farmers need not pay interest on their loans availed from Co-operative Societies if they pay back their loans within 15 months. They have to pay full interest for the entire 15 months, if the due date is exceeded even by a day. If the recommendation given by the CACP is accepted then the sugarcane farmers will not be able to avail of any interest free crop loan in the future.
The ever-increasing cost of sugarcane cultivation and delay & uncertainty on the part of sugar mills to pay the sugarcane dues has created severe hardships for the farmers. Area under cultivation and production is coming down. For instance, in Tamil Nadu, the quantum of sugarcane produced has come down from 22.5 lakh tonnes in 2011-12 to merely 8.7 lakh tonnes in 2020-21. Presently sugarcane dues to the farmers stand at about Rs 23,000 crores across the country. If the recommendation given by CACP to pay the dues in installments is accepted by the Union Government, the dues of sugarcane will increase further and sugarcane farmers across the country will be adversely affected. On behalf of the All India Sugarcane Farmers’ Federation, we demand that the recommendation be rejected and Union & the State Governments should ensure payment of sugarcane dues to farmers by the sugar mills within 14 days of procurement as per the provisions of Sugarcane (Control) order 1966.
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D.Ravindran N.K.Shukla
President General Secretary
