HYDERABAD: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has requested Sindh High Court to issue contempt notice to Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) for alleged violation of the court’s order.
At a meeting of the SCA here on Sunday, which was attended by the farmers’ representatives from Karachi, Sukkur, Sanghar and Ghotki through video link, the farmers alleged that PSMA was violating the SHC’s order.
The SCA claimed that the mills were paying only Rs.130 per 40 kilograms of sugarcane against the SHC fixed rate of Rs.160 per 40 kg.
“The sugarcane farmers in Sindh have been pushed into financial straits due to the low price of the crop. They are being thrust into a dilemma of either allowing their crop to decay or to get whatever price is being offered to them by the mills,” a statement issued after the meeting said.
“The mills are now violating the SHC’s order and they earlier challenged the Sindh government’s writ by not complying with the notification of Rs.182 per 40 kg rate,” the farmers complained.
The farmers expressed concern that a shortage of wheat was likely to hit the province because the sowing of wheat crop had been delayed due to the delay in the start of the cane crushing.
The meeting urged the SHC to take notice of the situation at the earliest in order to save the farmers from suffering more financial losses.
The meeting was chaired by the chamber’s vice president Dr Syed Shahnawaz Shah while the office bearers and members including Nisar Khatian, Mir Imdad Talpur, Aslam Turk, Nawaz Samejo and others attended.
