In a judgement that has come as a shot in the arm for sugarcane farmers, the Madras High Court has said the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the Centre for their produce was in reality not the fair market price at all, and that small and marginal farmers can survive only if the State governments paid them the much higher State Advised Price (SAP).
Acting Chief Justice T. Raja and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy made the observation while disposing of a PIL petition filed by agriculturist P. Ayyakannu complaining that the Thanjavur and Cuddalore farmers who supplied sugarcane to the company Aarooran Sugars Limited, between 2013 to 2017, had not been paid a total amount of ₹157.51 crore due to them since then.
Quoting the Tirukkural couplet ‘Uzhudhundu Vaazhvaare Vaazhvaar...’ which eugolises farmers, the judges said, “This is a converse case of small and marginal farmers, who supplied their produce as per the mandate of the State under the Sugarcane (Control) Order of 1966, being made to be pray with folded hands, not demanding any favour, but for the money due to them.”
Listing out the difficulties involved in growing sugarcane, the judges said, farmers switch over to sugarcane, despite it being a long-term crop that takes 10 to 12 months to harvest, and also due to not being able to bear the vagaries of the monsoon, the non-availability of sufficient water for irrigation and the market fluctuation associated with paddy and other regular crops.
Apart from the long duration taken to harvest, sugarcane also requires a repeat for two more crops: in all, requiring hard work for about three years. Further, it involves higher investments since the farmers have to till the fields to greater depths followed by harrowing and levelling and laying out the field so as to suit the planting of sugarcane, the judges said.
“Secondly, the seedlings have to be purchased with high costs. Before planting, applying manure and fertilizers, sold at high costs, is essential. After planting, not only the field has to be watered meticulously, the weeds too have to be removed periodically. This apart, the menace of wild boars and other animals cause damage to the crops,” the court wrote.
It also recorded the menace of fire accidents caused in sugarcane fields not only by negligent smokers but also by mischief-mongers. After safeguarding the fields from all these menaces, when the crop is ready for cultivation, the cutting order should be received on time from the Commissioner of Sugar under the Sugarcane (Control) Order, the Bench said.
“The labour for cutting sugarcane now costs huge and if the cutting season is dry without rains, it gravely affects the total weight of the cane and if it rains, there will be slush on the path resulting in lorries/trucks not being able to come near the field. Farmers have to spend a lot to transport the sugarcane from their fields to the main road by employing labour.
“Further, the spillage and theft on the way to the mill is also borne by the farmers, not to mention about weighment. Many a time, the farmers wonder how the same amount of stacking in the loading vehicle shows difference in weights ranging as high as one to two tons. Added to all this, there is a delay in getting the price of the sugarcane,” the Bench lamented.
Massive debt owed to farmers
In so far as the present case was concerned, the judges found that Aarooran Sugars Limited, which had crushing units at Tirumandangudi in Thanjavur district and A. Chittoor in Cuddalore district, had stopped crushing operations since 2018-19 and had undergone liquidation proceedings leaving behind a total liability of ₹1,583.53 crore to various individuals and entities.
The debts owed by the sugar mill to around 14,000 farmers alone was to the tune of ₹157.71 crore as per the SAP, and ₹78.48 crore as per the FRP. However, Kals Distilleries Private Limited had taken over both the crushing units of Aarooran on payment of a total consideration of just ₹145.21 crore on the basis of an order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal.
The liquidator had approved the payment of only ₹45.02 crore of that amount to the farmers and hence the present petition. Appalled at the plight of the farmers, the judges held the State government squarely responsible for not having taken steps to protect the interest of the farmers by impleading in the NCLT proceedings and challenging the orders passed by the latter.
They said, the farmers must be paid at least the FRP in full, if not the SAP, and directed the State government to own the liability and to pay eligible farmers the balance amount of ₹33.46 crore (after deducting ₹45.02 crore which had already been paid) within three months.
The judges also observed that it would be open to the government to hold negotiations with Kals Distilleries for payment of the balance amount though the latter could not be forced by the court to do so in the light of the NCLT order not having been challenged so far.
EOM
