Irked over non payment of compensation, sugarcane farmers say govt fooled them

Margao/Ponda: Sugarcane growers of Sanguem have accused the government of fooling them by closing down the Sanjivani sugarcane plant and giving them false assurance of restarting it on various occasions.
Addressing reporters, a member of the Sanguem Uss Utpadak Sangharsh Samiti, Prashant Dessai, said that despite the government having assured to pay sugarcane growers compensation of Rs 3,600 per tonne last year, the farmers were yet to receive the amount, leading them to hold a sit-in protest at the sugarcane plant.
Dessai said that the farmers had objected to sugarcane cultivated by Goan farmers being sent to Karnataka, and had demanded that the cane instead be processed at the Sanjivani plant. However, he said, their demands were ignored and tonnes of sugarcane got wasted or consumed by animals. Consequently, Dessai said, farmers were forced into penury.
Expressing disappointment over the government’s failure to revive the Sanjivani plant, Dessai demanded that the plant be given to the farmers.
Several other sugarcane farmers recently demanded that the government makes its stand clear about the future of the factory. They have also threatened to once again sit in protest at the factory premises on December 6.
Francis Mascarenhas, a cane farmer, said that the administration of the Sanjivani factory is yet to inform them on whether or not to plant canes. “The ethanol plant needs canes as raw material. If the government was certain about restarting the plant here, it would have directed us to plant canes,” he said.
Several other sugarcane farmers recently demanded that the government make its stand clear about the future of the factory. They have also threatened to protest at the factory premises on December 6