Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), Jun 11 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh Minister Suresh Rana has directed sugarcane mills to continue their operations "till last cane is standing in the west UP fields" is crushed.
The minister's directive came after he faced severe backlash from the Congress, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) over a sugarcane farmer's suicide.
In a video conferencing held with Saharanpur range officials on Wednesday, the minister said, "Smoke must continue to emanate from the chimneys of these mills until the time a single cane is standing in the field."
The minister later told reporters that for the first time, 112 crore quintals of sugarcane were crushed by the mills across the state. Nine sugar mills are still taking farmers' sugarcane while it is the month of June when crushing stops. He said that these mills will continue crushing until the last one is standing in the field.
When asked about sugarcane dues of the farmers, he said, "The erstwhile Samajwadi Party government paid Rs 95,000 crore worth of dues in five years and the Yogi Adityanath government has paid Rs 99,000 crore in just three years."
A few days ago a sugarcane farmer committed suicide leading to the political outrage.
The farmer, Ompal, 52, could not get slips to sell his produce piled up back home. He hanged himself last week.
The body of Ompal was found hanging from a tree in the Sisauli village on June 4. Later, locals kept his body on the road in protest and demanded compensation for the family members.
The local administration claimed that the farmer took the extreme step due to a dispute with his brothers over property. They also said that a large chunk of his produce had been purchased by a sugar mill.
District magistrate Selva Kumari had said, "The sugarcane stock of the farmer was purchased by a mill, and the remaining crop would also have been bought. It has come to light after the police investigation that Ompal had a property dispute with his brother, she added.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, BKU and RLD leaders slammed the state government, alleging that farmers were not getting the proper price for their crop because of the lockdown. A major protest was also held and Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan rushed to the site to placate the farmers.