Maharashtra: First batch of sugarcane workers leaves for home

TNN | Apr 22, 2020, 09:32 IST

A medical examination of all the workers was carried out.

KOLHAPUR: The first batch of around 6,000 of the 14,000 sugarcane workers, most of them from Marathwada, has embarked on their journey back home from Kolhapur, said an official of the district collectorate on Tuesday.
The district administration has arranged MSRTC buses to carry the stranded workers from the sugar mills to their native villages while their cattle will be transported in trucks.
Arun Kakade, deputy district registrar, Kolhapur district, said, “The workers who were transported on Monday were stationed at Sharad cooperative sugar mill, Jawahar mill, Gurudatta mill and Datta mill.”
Kakade said medical examination of all the workers was done at the mills while RTO officials checked the MSRTC buses for fitness. After getting approval from all the authorities concerned, they were sent.
“We have communicated with the authorities of the respective districts through which these buses will be passing and have asked them to allow the workers to go home. The buses will return after dropping them off,” he said.
Cane crushing season usually begins in October every year and lasts till February.
However, the season was delayed this year and continued till late March. The sugar cane cutters were stuck in the district after the government imposed lockdown on March 24.
The sugar cane cutters return to their villages and start sowing operations for the kharif crops in their fields to sustain their families till the next sugar cane crushing season starts.