PANAJI
For the nearly 200 workers of the Sanjivani Sugar factory, including 90-odd contractual workers, it has been a long dark tunnel ever since the government shut operations of the loss-making entity over five years ago.
Since then, they have been going from pillar to post in the government, organising public demonstrations and knocking on every door possible seeking to save their jobs but are yet to reach the end of this dark tunnel to see any light.
Until the last term of the government ended in March 2022, the workers had a vocal supporter in local MLA and the then PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar, said a group of workers 'The Goan' spoke to.
"Now, we feel orphaned and no one in the government is giving us an ear," said Mahesh Gaonkar (name changed to protect identity) who has been working at the factory since 2010.
Their only hope now rests with the government which is now attempting to yet again call for bids for setting up an ethanol plant after two previous attempts drew a blank with no takers for the proposal.
Meanwhile, the workers who spoke to 'The Goan' said they are also hopeful that efforts of the labour union which is continuing efforts to eke out a decent deal for them from the State government will bear fruit.
The Sanjivani Sahakar Shakhar Karkhana Ltd (SSKL) managing committee was dissolved in 2019 and a government officer, Satej Kamata was appointed as the administrator. Simultaneously in 2020, the government also brought the sugar factory under the administrative control of the Agriculture Department instead of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies.
Since then, Kamat has been holding discussions with representatives of the workers on their demands for job security, including redeployment in other government-owned entities. However, the State government has yet to make its stand clear on the matter.
"We are now with our fingers crossed. We don't know what will happen after December 31 when the government support for our salaries will stop," Gaonkar said, virtually resigned to their fate of going without a salary from January onwards.
Meanwhile, the workers questioned if the government had "bona fide" reasons for giving away land belonging to the SSSKL to private entities. Back in 2021, the State government allotted 4-lakh square metres of land belonging to the SSSKL to set up campuses of the National Forensic Sciences University and the International Law University. The workers also alleged that an educational trust run by a politician has also been allotted land belonging to the factory, adding that the decisions smell foul.
Crucial govt meet next week
The State government will hold crucial meetings next week where decisions are expected to be taken which will be crucial to the future of Goa's sugarcane cultivators and the only but beleaguered sugar factory. As of date, govt support for the cane farmers and also the sugar factory employees is guaranteed only until the end of this year.
There are some proposals in the pipeline both for the sugar factory workers as well as the cane farmers. These will be discussed at the meetings with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik. A final decision will be taken by the government thereafter," a senior official of the Agriculture Department said.
Currently, over 500 hectares are covered by sugarcane crops with an annual output of approximately 25,000-odd tonnes of sugarcane produced.
