PANAJI
Opposition members raised a ruckus in the Goa legislative assembly on Friday over the Sanjivani Sugar factory deadlock forcing the Speaker Rajesh Patnekar to abruptly adjourn the House twice and cut short Question Hour.
MLAs from the Opposition benches including Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat, Goa Forward Party's Vijai Sardesai, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party's (MGP) Sudin Dhavlikar and Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar took to their feet after Patnekar cut short the back-and-forth discussion on the Sugar factory row and called out the next question.
Gaonkar and others even walked to the well prompting Patnekar to adjourn the House.
The Opposition later petitioned the Speaker to permit a proper discussion over the matter, a demand which Patnekar said he will give his decision later.
Earlier during Question Hour, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said, that the government engaged with the agitating farmers and came to an understanding over paying them for their cane harvest based on a nine-year average rate.
"However they later reneged and asked for an earlier formula the government had proposed," Sawant said, adding that the government will support the farmers but there has to be unanimity.
The State-owned sugar factory has shut since the 2019-20 crushing season.
In the current fiscal till date, the State government has disbursed grant-in-aid of Rs nine-crore to the factory including Rs 2.06 crore for salaries and operating costs.
Another Rs 5.41 crore was given for loan repayment to Goa State Co-operative Bank and Rs 1.58 crore for offseting dues owed to farmers.for their sugarcane harvest of 2019-20, according to the written reply.
