PONDA: Saneevani Sugar Factory workers’ leader Puti Gaonkar alleged on Thursday that some politicians are scheming to grab the vast land belonging to the factory, while others are conniving to sell the land at throwaway price.
Addressing the media here, Gaonkar appealed to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Cooperation Minister Govind Gaude not to close down the factory. “Instead of closing down the factory, the government should modernise it by roping in experienced officers working in cooperative sectors in Maharashtra,” he said.
Opposing closure of Sanjeevani factory on the grounds that it is suffering the losses, Gaonkar said that the supposed loss incurred by the factory was in fact a scam committed by an official.
“The cooperation minister said that the factory suffered loss of Rs 6 crore for the year 2017-18; this is not an actual loss. It was a scam by an official Umeshchandra Joshi who gave Rs 6 crore to a contractor for hiring workers for cutting sugarcane which he never did,” he said.
“In fact, to cut the loss of the factory, the workers are paid poor salary,” he said.
He said that the factory can be run profitably if competent officials are appointed and the factory is modernised. “The motive behind closing down the factory is to grab the land or sell it to industrialists at a cheaper rate,” he argued.
He claimed that the “corrupt and incompetent” officials running the affairs of Sanjeevani Sugar Factory are responsible for the losses of the factory.
He said that Goa’s first chief minister Bahusaheb Bandodkar started the factory to protect the interests of the farmers and provide employment to the youth. “But corrupt people have run it into loss. If this factory is closed down, then, hundreds of workers, farmers and truckers will be deprived of their livelihood,” he warned.
He suggested that Minister Gaude should study the report prepared by the committee appointed by former agricultural minister Vijay Sardesai for the revival and modernisation of Sanjeevani Sugar Factory.
Gaonkar informed that under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana there was a proposal for modernisation by obtaining loans.
He suggested that projects like shopping, ethanol plant, drinking water bottle plant etc can be started on Sanjeevani land to bring it into profit.
He alleged that since past five years some politicians, in connivance with the officials, are extracting laterite stone illegally on the land belonging to Sanjeevani Factory. “If this business is operated legally, the factory could have earned huge revenue,” he said.
