the goan I network
MARGAO
Opposing any move to shut down the Sanjivani sugar factory, the Akhil Goa Bhumiputra Manch has urged the government to replace the obsolete machinery with state-of-the-art plant and tone up the administration for better results.
The manch has also called for a detailed probe into the losses sustained by the factory over the years to ascertain whether mismanagement was the cause.
Addressing the media, tribal leader and former minister Ramesh Tawadkar said the livelihood of 1000 families of farmers eking out a living from the sugarcane cultivation will be in danger if the sugar factory is shut down citing losses. “Of the 1000 families eking out a livelihood on sugarcane cultivation, 80 per cent of these farmers belong to the Scheduled Tribes. They will be on the roads if the factory is shut down by the government for any reason,” Tawadkar added.
Saying that a delegation of the Akhil Goa Bhumiputra Manch on Saturday called on Minister for Cooperation, Govind Gaude, with a plea not to shut down the sugar factory, Tawadkar said installation of a new state-of-the-art plant and machinery will help in giving better results. “It’s an open secret that the sugar crushing machinery was installed at the factory in the 60s. There ought to be improvements in the plant and machinery from time to time, but this has not taken place over the years. Moreover, it is a fact that the factory has been mismanaged for want of proper management. The government should put the administration in place in the interest of the sugarcane farmers,” he said.
Tawadkar also raised the issue of sharp fall in the cashew rates this year, saying the decline in the rates has hit the cashew farmers very badly this season. “The cashew rates have come down by 40 per cent this year. I have asked the government to order an inquiry into the cashew rates,” he said, while demanding that the government extend support price for the cashew farmers.
A former tribal welfare minister, Tawadkar demanded that the government set in motion a mechanism to expedite disposal of forest rights cases. While lamenting that the Forest Dwellers Act had come into force in Goa in 2012, Tawadkar lamented over the poor disposal of forest rights cases in the state.
