Reopen sugar factory or accept you failed, Cong tells Goa Govt

Panaji : Goa Congress leader Girish Chodankar on Wednesday slammed the BJP Government led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for failing to give solace to sugarcane farmers by reopening the Sanjivani Sugar Factory and alleged that the government was anti-Bahujan Samaj.

“These days BJP leaders only speak in ‘numbers’ and try to garner votes by spreading misinformation. They also speak about giving schemes to farmers and working in their interest. However, in Goa, farmers are left with no hope and hence they are forced to protest,” Chodankar said, referring to protests staged by farmers on Tuesday.

“It may be recalled that in 2017 Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Manohar Parrikar had promised to give a new lease of life to Sanjivani sugar factory by taking out sugarcane by-products. But what happened to that promise? Instead of working towards the welfare of farmers, this same government shut the factory in 2020 and since then farmers are suffering,” Chodankar said.

“It is evident from their actions that the BJP Government is anti-Bahujan and has turned a Nelson’s Eye to this issue. It also failed to provide farmers the facility of selling sugarcane to neighbouring states,” Chodankar said.

“Instead of giving a helping hand, hundreds of farmers were detained last year when they demanded that the factory be restarted. This is unacceptable,” he said.

“The Government should come clear over restarting the Sanjivani factory and also about the details of the ‘Expression of Interest’ to set up an ethanol plant. Pramod Sawant should also enquire if anyone is demanding ‘suitcase’ from the interested party, which discouraged his interest,” Chodankar said.

“I condemn the harassment of the sugarcane farmers by this government. The Government should immediately restart the factory or should announce that they failed to help farmers of the state,” Chodankar added.