Team Herald
MARGAO: Former Minister Ramesh Tawadkar impressed upon Co-operatives Ministers Govind Gaude not to close down the Sanjivani Sugar Factory as nearly 1000 farmers are dependent on it and most of them belonging to the tribal community.
Briefing the media persons, Tawadkar said that nearly 80 per cent of the farmers surviving on the sugar factory belong to the tribal community and that the sugar factory is running at a loss not due to any fault of the farmers.
“The maintenance and timely improvement of the machinery has not been undertaken since 1965 when the factory was started by Goa’s first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar,” he said and added that he has impressed upon the Co-operative minister to undertake this task first.
Tawadkar said that he has asked the minister to investigate and identify who is responsible for the criminal negligence of the factory and hold them responsible and recover the money from them. He also appealed to all the farmers to remain united so that they are not put on the streets with a sudden closure of the factory.
Pointing out that at one stage he was the highest cane producer in Canacona taluka, he said it would be difficult for the farmer to suddenly change his crop after cultivating cane for so many years.
He also asked the minister to check why the procurement price of cashew suddenly went down by 40 per cent this year.
and said that cashew is a major cash crop in Goa and hence lot of farmers have been affected.
“Let the minister investigate the cause of the slump in procurement price while I have also asked for a support price for cashew production to be announced,” he said.
