Government will clear arrears of sugarcane farmers soon, assures Botcha Satyanarayana

Vizianagaram: Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana has said that all the pending bills and arrears of sugarcane farmers would be cleared soon.

On Friday he spoke to the media and said that the pending arrears from Bheemasingi Sugar Factory to farmers were about Rs 16 crore and they would be paid to farmers. Speaking on police action on farmers, who were on protest at NCS sugar factory recently, Botcha said that there was no lathi-charge on the farmers during the agitation, but some people with vested interests were deliberately trying to mislead the ryots.

"The government is trying to provide justice to the farmers by auctioning the company's assets through the Revenue Recovery Act in a bid to clear all the pending dues of farmers," he said.

Recalling the past instances, he said that the government resolved a similar issue back in 2019 when the pending arrears from the factory were above Rs 25 crore. The Minister stated that the government was aware of the farmers' hardships and hence it has taken the responsibility although it was a private factory and didn't turn blind eye like the previous government.

Further, the Minister said that the issue will be resolved at the earliest and pointed out that the government seized over 30,000 bags of sugar valued at Rs 10 crore from the factory. Stating that the opposition parties were spreading false propaganda on the issue, he said that there was no lathi-charge and the police had exercised restraint even after they were attacked.

He said that the Opposition leaders have been provoking the farmers and inciting violence in the name of agitation. He said the government would conduct an inquiry into the incident.

In this regard, Botcha slammed TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu for alleging that the State has turned into a hub for ganja cultivation. He said there was abundant ganja cultivation during the previous TDP rule, but the current government has been taking strict measures in reducing it.

He came down heavily on Naidu for obstructing each and every development initiative of the government. Later, Botcha conducted a review meeting with Collector A Suryakumari, managements of Bheemasingi and Sankili sugar factories and instructed them to take steps in favour of cane farmers.