Tirupur: Employees of the Amaravathi Co-operative Sugar Mills near Udumalpet on Monday staged a protest demanding salary.
“We haven’t received our salaries for the last five months. We blame it on the ineffective administration of the mill, which was functioning profitably during 2011-12. They say that the mill could not be operated for the last two years due to drought,” said S Arumugam, president of the Anna Thozhilalar Sanga Peravai.
More than 300 employees, including skilled and unskilled workers, are working in the mill. “We had raised the issue with the authorities. But no action was taken to solve it. We are forced to stage demonstrations as the situation has affected our families,” Arumugam told TOI.
Though the mill authorities were planning to enter contracts with farmers cultivating on 4,000 acres of land, they have so far been able to sign contracts for only 3,000 acres, the union leader said.
The mill is now producing molasses. Sugar extraction is expected to begin from April next year.
