Vellore sugar mill clears Rs 33 cr arrears to farmers

The Vellore cooperative sugar mill paid out pending cane dues of Rs 33.39 crore to farmers on Monday and successfully registered 2,000 acres for the next crushing season beginning in November - December this year, according to mill chairman M Anandan, who is well-known for clearing the pending dues of the farmers.

migrator

Updated:24th Mar, 2020 at 3:06 AM

Vellore

Talking to this reporter, Anandan said, “When the news of full payment of farmers’ dues reaches the public, we hope to register an additional 1,000 acres which calculated at an average yield of 40 tonnes per acre will enable us to crush 1.20 lakh tones.”

According to sources, receiving the cash quotient was an uphill task for the Vellore mill. The mill officials said, “Though the chairman stated his willingness to pledge 1.02 lakh quintals of the available crushed sugar as a collateral for the loan of Rs 33.39 crore, Vellore central cooperative bank officials including chairman V Ramu raised objections for the payment despite interactions between Anandan and the bank officials extending for nearly a week.”

Finally, the amount was paid to the Chairman with the intervention of District Minister KC Veeramani (Commercial Taxes). Anandan personally approached Commercial Taxes Minister KC Veeramani followed by Industries Minister MC Sampath and Cooperatives Minister Sellur K Raju before the issue was solved, sources revealed.

As Anandan said, “The Vellore sugar mill is the only cooperative unit in the State to clear farmers’ pending dues.” The last crushing season saw cane registered with Ambur, Tirupattur, Dharmapur and Tiruthani cooperative sugar mill being diverted to the Vellore facility and hence even for this time the farmers urge Vellore unit to take their yield. Reflecting the demand, Mohan Ram, a farmer said, “We want our cane to be crushed by the Vellore unit as payments for supplied cane is assured.”

Even the farmers attached to a private sugar mill at Polur in Tiruvannamalai district had requested the Vellore mill to take their cane in the just concluded crushing season but were finally ordered to divert their cane to the Kallakurichi sugar mill. Following this, the farmers ask, “If the Vellore mill chairman can ensure payment of farmers’ dues, why don’t other cooperative mill chairmans follow suit?”

﻿Vellore sugar mill clears Rs 33 cr arrears to farmers

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Vellore sugar mill clears Rs 33 cr arrears to farmers