Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday accused sugar mills of cheating farmers and demanded a CBI probe into their functioning. He also urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to work out modalities and ensure the sugar sector is afloat by taking care of both farmers and the millers.

At a dharna outside a sugar mill in Phagwara in support of the farmers, Bajwa accused private sugar mills of having raised loans on behalf of individual farmers by allegedly getting their signatures on blank papers and then not clearing the arrears.

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“Some of the farmers have been given only part of the loan taken against their names,” Bajwa said.

He also took exception to private sugar mills having suddenly decided against crushing this season, citing losses and without giving farmers any prior notice. He, however, admitted that the sugar mills had been running at losses as the market price of sugar had fallen while sugarcane prices hadn’t. He urged the state government to work out a formula to help the sugar mills as well.

The other senior Congress leaders who participated in the dharna were Ludhiana North MLA Rakesh Pandey, Ludhiana Central MLA Surinder Dawar, Ludhiana West MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Mukerian MLA Rajneesh Babbi, Qadian MLA Charanjit Kaur Bajwa, state Congress general secretary Pawan Adiya and party spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira.

Urges Badal to lead delegation to PM

Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday called upon Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to immediately call an emergency session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and lead an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the farmers’ protests over increasing incidence of suicides. Bajwa also demanded a package for the debt-ridden farmers of the state.