‘Government won’t leave sugarcane growers alone’

FAISALABAD: Special Assistant to Punjab CM Malik Umar Farooq has said that the government will not leave sugarcane growers alone and 100 per cent payment from sugar mills to them will be ensured.

He was presiding over a District Monitoring Committee meeting held to review the matters of sugarcane crushing season and update status of payments from sugar mills at DC Office on Saturday.

The special assistant informed that special monitoring was being carried out by the Punjab government and entire administrative machinery had been mobilised to protect the interests of the growers.

He enquired from the ACs about the current payment status of the sugar mills at their respective areas and directed that 100 per cent payment should be made to the growers of sugarcane supplied till December 31, 2018. He asked the sugar mills management to pay the remaining dues of sugarcane to the farmers within stipulated period.

He directed the DO Industries for regular checking of the weigh bridges and strict action should be taken in case of less weighing and illegal deductions. He stressed upon proper traffic management to avoid road accidents due to sugarcane loaded trolleys.

The special assistant also urged upon increasing the police patrolling for the safety and security of sugarcane growers. ADCR Tariq Niazi briefed about the measures taken by the district administration for the supervision of crushing season and informed about the action taken against the middlemen and illegal weigh bridges. SSP Investigation Nadeem Abbas, DO Industries Khalid Mehmood and others were also present.