Doaba Kisan Committee Punjab organised a dharna in front of the office of the Department of Agriculture on Ladowali road here. The protest was held over haphazard payments made by the department through online mode on May 6 and 7. The farmers led by state president Jagvir Singh Chauhan said that the Punjab government had deposited pending sugarcane dues into the farmers’ bank accounts.
Giving details, he said, “AB Sugar Dasuya deposited Rs 20.8 crore, Indian Sucrose Mukerian paid Rs 27.42 crore, Nahar Sugar Mill Amloh deposited Rs 5.13 crore, Chadha Sugar Mill Kiri Afgana Rs 5.13 crore, Rana Sugar Mill Buttar Sivia Rs 3.39 crore and Phagwara Sugar Mill’s previous year 2024-25 dues amounting to Rs 58.33 lakh. Altogether, Rs 62.48 crore was deposited into farmers’ accounts by the Punjab government. But this was just a part of the nearly Rs 250 crore pending dues for the 2025-26 season.”
He said, “Since 2015, the Punjab Government had been depositing payments directly into farmers’ accounts without any issues. But this year a new portal had been readied by officials of the Sugarcane Department, including the Project Officer Cane, Jalandhar, under whose jurisdiction all cooperative and private sugar mills of Punjab operate, along with other officials.”
The farmers said that a serious negligence occurred in the preparation of this new portal. The Sugarcane Department deposited money into farmers’ accounts, but thousands of farmers did not receive even a single rupee, while thousands of others received double payments. Around 1,300 farmers associated with Dasuya Sugar Mill alone received double payments, amounting to nearly Rs 3.85 crore for just one mill. Similarly, farmers linked with Mukerian and other private sugar mills also received crores of rupees in duplicate payments. Many farmers did not receive even a single rupee. Thus, once again, farmers were exploited and became victims of fraud, they alleged.
The demand from the government is that the farmers who have not received any payment should be paid immediately. At the same time, how this mistake made by the officials will now be corrected is a matter for investigation, they said. Project Officer Cane Jalandhar Mandhir Singh told all the protesting farmers that by May 30, Rs 142 crore belonging to all private sugar mills of Punjab would be deposited into the farmers’ accounts. Present on the occasion were Ranjit Singh Bajwa, Balbir Singh Sohiya, Amarjit Singh Kurla, Onkar Singh Devidas, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Mehtab Singh Hundal, Parminder Singh Samra and Ranjit Singh Giddarpindi.
Farmers’ delegation raise pending payment issue with Cane Commissioner
A delegation of the Guru Nanak Sewa Society led by its president Kripal Singh Gera met Punjab Cane Commissioner Dr Amrik Singh at the Agriculture Headquarters in Mohali and submitted a memorandum highlighting the major demands of sugarcane farmers and the issue of pending payments by sugar mills.
During the meeting, the delegation informed the Cane Commissioner that the government-announced bonus of Rs 68.40 per quintal for sugarcane farmers was still pending and around Rs 142 crore had not yet been released to farmers.
The delegation also pointed out that nearly Rs 25 crore was pending against Mukerian Sugar Mill. Expressing resentment over the delay, the members said that while Dasuya Sugar Mill clears payments to farmers within the stipulated 14-day period, the Mukerian Sugar Mill management allegedly delays payments every season, causing disappointment among farmers.
After listening to the demands sympathetically, Dr Amrik Singh assured the delegation that the process of releasing the pending Rs 142 crore would begin within the next two to three days and an official copy regarding the release would also be sent to the society. He further assured that the remaining pending dues would be transferred to the farmers’ bank accounts within a month.
Apart from Kripal Singh Gera, senior Akali Taksali leader Lakhwinder Singh Timmy, Baljit Singh Gifta and Jagtar Singh, along with other dignitaries, were also present during the meeting.
