Dona Paula: Following requests by the sugarcane growers, Goa government has decided to hand over Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana to Agriculture Department.
The farmers who were providing sugar cane to the factory were upset due to frequent breakdowns of the factory, which is the sole facility in the State.
State cabinet which was chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar decided to transfer the factory from Registrar of Cooperative Societies to Agriculture Department.
State Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai confirming the development told reporters that the entire factory would be overhauled as it was running on a second hand machinery which was procured half a century back.
He said that the factory would be upgraded under Centre’s Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY) in which 60 per cent of the funds are provided by Union government, while 40 per cent will have to be invested by the state.
Sardesai said that the agriculture department role in the management of factory was restricted till now as it used to provide Minimum Support Price to the farmers.
Welcoming the decision, Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar, in whose Sanguem constituency sizeable number of sugar cane growers exist, said that the factory desperately had need overhauling.
“The farmers were suffering due to the condition of the factory. Now we hope that all the issues would be solved so that the sugar cane cultivation becomes profitable venture in the state,” he added.
