Karnal, November 7: A meeting was held between a delegation of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and the mill administration regarding the demand for the early restart of the Karnal Cooperative Sugar Mill Limited for the 2025-26 sugarcane crushing season. The meeting was held at the rest house located at the sugar mill. BKU State President Ratanman and MD Aditi, representing the mill management, were prominently present.
Ratanman, speaking on behalf of sugarcane farmers, demanded that the sugar mill be operational from November 18th. He stated that if the mill is restarted late, farmers will suffer financial losses because sugarcane harvesting and sowing of the next crop in the fields will not be completed on time. He demanded that the mill's restart date be announced soon so that farmers can arrange for laborers to crush the sugarcane.
The lack of a date has created confusion among sugarcane farmers. BKU also demanded from the mill administration and the government that harvester machines be made available to farmers for sugarcane crushing. Ratanman said that farmers should be assisted in purchasing such machines to address the labor shortage. MD Aditi assured the farmers that they would be informed about the mill's operational status within the next four days.
She stated that all demands would be placed before higher officials and that farmers would not face any difficulties during the 2025-26 sugarcane crushing season. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ratanman stated that the mill management's intention to reopen the mill on November 18th was unclear. The preparations detailed by the mill administration at the meeting did not indicate that the mill would be operational on time as demanded by the farmers.
He demanded from the state government that, keeping farmers' interests in mind, all sugar mills across the state should be operational by November 20th at the latest. Ratanman said that sugar mills should not be run as per the government's will, but should be run keeping the interests of the farmers paramount.
On this occasion, prominent farmer leader and spokesperson Surendra Sagwan, in-charge Mehtab Kadian, Chairman Saheb Singh Bajwa, District Secretary Sanjeev Nasirpur, Office Secretary Rajkumar Nautana, Karnal Block President Anil Kumar Rawal, Vice President Sardar Balbir Singh, Indri Block President Dilawar Singh Dabkoli, Kala Mangalora, Ompal Kadian, Inam Khan, Mehak Singh, Bablu Badran, Bittu Mangalora and a large number of farmers were present.