Panaji: Congress leader Girish Chodankar on Wednesday slammed BJP government led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for failing to give solace to sugarcane farmers by reopening Sanjivani Sakhar Karkhana and alleged that this government is anti-Bahujan Samaj.
“Now a 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 pointed out.
“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 Karkhana by taking by-product out of sugarcane. But what happened to that promise? Instead of working towards the welfare of farmers, this same government has shut the factory in 2020 and since then farmers are suffering,” Chodankar said.
“It is evident by their every act that the BJP government is anti-Bahaujan and has turned Nelson’s Eye on this issue. It also failed to provide facility of selling the sugarcane to neighbouring states and those who contacted directly to these farmers looted them by giving doit to their produce,” Chodankar said.
“Instead of giving a helping hand, hundreds of farmers were detained last year when they demanded to restart the factory. This is unacceptable,” he said.
“Government should come clear over restarting Sanjivani Karkhana and also about details of ‘Expression of Interest’ to set up an ethanol plant. Pramod Sawant should also inquire if anyone is demanding ‘suitcase’ from the interested party, which discouraged his interest,” Chodankar said.
“I condemn the harassment done by this government to the farmers of the state, who are dependent on the cultivation of Sugarcane. Government should immediately start the factory or should announce that they failed to help farmers of the state,” Chodankar said.
