Capt Amarinder raps govt mismanaging Bhogpur Sugar Mill

JALANDHAR, April 28: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today lashed out at the state government for mismanaging the Bhogpur Sugar Mill, besides providing undue advantage to certain people at the cost of the interest of the farmers.
A delegation of the farmers from Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Samiti met Capt Amarinder and told him that there was a turbine blast in the Mill on July 17, last year, which led to the mill stopping to produce the electricity.
During the last year, before the turbine blast, electricity worth Rs 14 crore was produced and sold by the plant in the first 4 months only.  “But since the plant hasn’t been operationalised again the Mill had to buy electricity worth Rs 12 crore causing huge losses to the society and resulting in delay of payment to the cane farmers”, the farmers told the former Chief Minister.
Capt Amarinder disclosed that the Bhogpur Sugar Mill was renovated and modernised during his government at a cost of Rs 109 crore in Nov 2020 and the capacity was enhanced to 3000 TCD from 1016 TCD besides a new 15 MW power plant was set up here.
The farmers alleged that the management favours big farmers and provides them unfair advantage and lets them bring their produce first to the mill, which forces small farmers to go to private players who don’t provide payment on time
They also brought to his notice the issue of contract signed with a private firm to sell power at the meagre amount of Rs 80lakh during the off season even though the mill had sold electricity worth Rs 14 crore during the crushing season. “
The farmers alleged that the mill has also given some of its land to a private player to run a petrol pump at the amount of Rs 13,000 per month whereas the farmers feel that this rent is too low and is aimed at benefiting a single person.
There is a contract between the mill and the farmers that they have to bring at least 85% of their produce in before the stipulated time otherwise they are fined a big amount, but because the management gives preference to big farmers and doesn’t follow proper parchi system the small farmers aren’t allowed to bring their produce on time which later results in them having to face massive fines due to no fault of their own. In last season only 871 farmers were fined a whopping amount of Rs 70 Lakh, which is totally unfair to the farmers that are already facing economic strain.
The farmers alleged that the mill has wasted around 1 crore rupees of farmers’ donation without taking any permission and giving construction work on way too high rates then required. Farmers, they said, had donated Rs 2 per quintal for construction of shed and other work to the mill, but the mill is cheating people by showing bogus purchases and getting temporary low quality Godowns made at way too high costs.