Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP) has alleged that the sugar mills in Punjab in violation of Sugarcane Act are buying the sugarcane from growers on price less than the support price fixed by the provincial government at Rs 170 per maund. Reacting on information, KBP President Sardar Zafar Hussein said that the mills were not paying the minimum purchase price due to which sugarcane growers had to suffer loss of millions of rupees.

He said that these mills were also making deductions on different pretexts; no body was taking notice of the sugar mills mafia in support of the growers. He said sugar mills were violating cane Act but cane commissioner and district administration were playing the role of silent spectator.

Sardar Zafar Hussein appealed to the Chief Minister Punjab to take steps for stopping exploitation of the growers. He said that it should be made binding on cane commissioner, staff and district administration to set up camp offices for solving the issues being faced by the sugarcane growers. He said that attitude of sugar millers were forcing the growers to take some extreme steps.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012