Members of Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association stage a demonstration near Collector’s office in Madurai on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: R. ASHOK

Sugarcane farmers from Madurai and nearby districts staged a protest outside the Collector’s office here on Tuesday demanding allocation of required funds to reopen the National Cooperative Sugar Mills at Alanganallur. 

N. Palanisamy, State vice-president, Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association, who led the protest, said the sugarcane mill at Alanganallur which operated in full swing till 2018, due to the drought situation that affected the sugarcane production, was closed the following year.  

“But, even when the cane production revived in the later years, the government did not take steps to reopen the mill,” he added.  

When workers lost jobs and sugarcane farmers lost earnings due to the prolonged shutdown of the mill, the sugarcane farmers’ association along with the farmers, staged a continuous protest outside the mill stretching up to 46 days, he recalled.  

As a response to the protest, the then Minister for Agriculture constituted a committee in 2022 to review the working condition of the mill and the equipment, he said.  

The committee estimated that ₹27 crore was needed to revive the mill to working condition. “Following this, at a cost of ₹100 crore, works were started to install an electricity substation on the mill premises,” Mr. Palanisamy said.  

But, much to the disappointment of both the mill workers and cane farmers, the substation installation was stopped when about 80% of the works were already completed, he said.  

Now, with the sugarcane production looking up and more farmers having started raising canes, the Tamil Nadu government should make an announcement in the upcoming budget to reopen the mill, the protesters demanded.  

“On the heels of the announcement, field men should be employed to inspect and record the sugarcane production in the region,” they added.  

Canes with sugar recovery rate of 9% should be bought for ₹5,500 a tonne.  Since the procurement rate was less, after all the expenses on labour and production, the government should fix a better rate, the protesters said.