Centre won’t intervene in sugar issue: Paswan

Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Wednesday that the Centre will not intervene on the question of payment of sugarcane arrears to farmers by private millers.

Stating that the Centre had a limited role to play, Paswan asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to take strong action against defaulters to ensure that farmers were paid their dues.

“When the new Government was formed, the cane arrears stood at ₹14,095 crore, now it is ₹7,760 crore. Arrears in Uttar Pradesh are the highest at ₹4,560 crore. The issue of repaying the remaining 45 per cent is a concern,” Paswan told reporters here. The Minister said that it was disappointing despite a host of incentives offered to private millers, including the raising of sugar import duty to 25 per cent, increasing the export subsidy from ₹3,300 per tonne to ₹ 3,371 per tonne, disbursing soft loans of ₹6,600 crore and recommending an increase in ethanol blending with petrol of up to 10 per cent.

Paswan said the Government would consider additional interest-free loans to mills if there was an assurance that the funds would be used to clear cane dues.

“The soft loans are going on and we can think of extending more if they give assurance of clearing dues within a fixed time frame,” he said. He also added that a decision to extend the export subsidy on raw sugar would be discussed by the end of this month. Food Secretary Sudhir Kumar said India, the world’s largest sugar producer, would be unable to meet demand despite a possible late harvest in Uttar Pradesh.

Paswan also stated that the Centre was ready to aid flood-hit Jammu & Kashmir where one of Food Corporation of India’s godowns with a capacity of 8,000 tonnes was affected. “We have sufficient stock of foodgrains in the State. If the State Government wants, we are willing to offer foodgrains on credit,” he said.

The Minister said that amendments to the Consumer Protection Act (1986) and the Bureau of Indian Standards Act (1986) have been proposed and efforts were on to expand the number of products under the mandatory quality certification programme in order to bolster consumer rights. Self-certification was also under consideration as the number of items requiring BIS certification would rise from 102 products to 2,300-2,500 items. A portal will also be set up by the Ministry where complaints can be lodged by consumers.

“We have decided to set up a consumer protection authority with independent powers to protect consumer rights. There is a need to follow best standards to spur exports,” said Paswan.

A Ministry official said, “We are trying to amend the Act to give a more prominent role to mediation which all court systems should recognise as an alternative and effective method… .The two parties sit together in the presence of a mediator, as the facts in such disputes are relatively few.”

He added that States had been receptive to the idea and it was hoped that the proposal could be tabled in the winter session of Parliament.

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