Pay ₹149 cr cane dues, CM directs Sugarfed

CHANDIGARH: Chief minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered Sugarfed to pay balance amount of Rs 149 crore to liquidate full arrears of Rs 299 crore payable to the cane growers by the cooperative sugar mills.

The finance department has already sanctioned Rs 150 crore to make the outstanding payment of the farmers of cooperative sugar mills, while the balance amount would be paid by Sugarfed from its own resources, according to a spokesman of chief minister’s office.

He also asked cooperation minister Sukhjinder Randhawa to work out a viable mechanism to avert such a situation in future, and ensure timely and regular payment to the cane growers.

Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday thanked the Punjab government for releasing funds to clear ₹299 crore arrears to sugarcane farmers.

CAPT SEEKS ADDITIONAL WHEAT, PULSES FROM CENTRE

Chief minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday urged Union consumer affairs and food minister Ram Vilas Paswan for additional allocation of 14,144 metric tonne (MT) of wheat and 1,414 MT of pulses for two months for distribution to migrant labour/ poor non-National Food Security Act (NFSA) residents of the state.

In a letter, Amarinder said this was necessary as the loss of wages for the past few months had severely crippled the purchasing power of migrants and the poor Non-National Food Security Act citizens.

The Centre had allocated 14,144 MT of wheat and 1,015 MT of pulses for distribution to migrants and non-NFSA beneficiaries earlier and the distribution of these stocks is going on in the state.

This distribution is expected to be complete within the next 10-15 days.