Team Herald
PONDA: The only sugar factory in the State at Dayanandnagar-Dharbandora has stopped crushing sugarcane for almost three years due to mechanical problems and shortage of sugarcane but today it has turned into a white elephant with continued government apathy and neglect.
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The decision to close down Sanjivani has affected not just the sugarcane farmers but also the factory labourers, transport contractors and other workers who were dependent on the factory.
The government has given only mixed signals on whether the factory will be re-opened or not but has promised to restart the factory but the process so far has been sluggish which has confused the sugarcane producers.
The Goan farmers then had to sell their produce to Laila sugar factory in Khanapur but were never paid on time.
The scams ranging from buying machinery to selling the sugar that took place within the factory allegedly by officials themselves has not been probed thoroughly. The government later encouraged farmers to grow vegetables in the fields instead of keeping the land barren and had also announced subsidies. As expected, the scheme never made it to most of the farmers.
The Sanjivani was dependent on the sugarcane came from parts of Karnataka such as Ramnagar, Khanapur, Alnavar, Dandeli and Haliyal.
However, the Goa government did not put in any efforts to bring sugarcane from Karnataka to Goa. It is alleged that officials in the factory were appointed based on their political connections instead of their qualifications in the agriculture field.
Currently the government was looking to switch over to Ethanol production in a bid to transform the loss making unit into a profitable venture.
“Every sugarcane producer genuinely feels that Sanjivani should be restarted and pin hopes on the government’s assuranaces to re-open it,” said Sugarcane Farmers Association president Rajendra Dessai.
The Goa government had formed a special panel to review the factory’s work and appointed former South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar as its president. “The procedure to start an Ethanol project is complete and the report has been submitted to the government,” remarked Sawaikar.
It may be recalled that Sanjivani sugar factory was started almost five decades ago as a cooperative society inorder to improve the economic conditions of the farmers.
