The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) (Punjab) absence on Monday irritated the Senate standing committee on food and agriculture, whose participants wanted strict action against mills dishonouring commitment for the start of crushing season 2006-07.
Sources said growers' representatives raised the issue of the absence of PSMA (Punjab) from the committee and demanded action against its office-bearers for not truing up for an important committee meeting scheduled to take up issues of delay in crushing season and middleman's role in procurement of sugar cane in Punjab.
The delay in crushing season and middleman's growing role for unregistered buying of sugar cane have been chronic issues of the sugar sector. The government had made a number of announcements but these remained mere announcements, as nothing tangible was done to put to an end to these unhealthy practices.
These issues remained focal point of the committee meeting, whose members wanted to know if the government was really serious in addressing controversial issues confronted by the sugar sector.
One of the growers' representatives told the committee the middleman was thriving in sugar cane buying due to poor monitoring of government departments concerned. He wanted a proactive role of the CBR to check this menace.
PSMA (NWFP) wanted taxation on gur. Its representatives argued gur-making has turned into a mechanised industry and its sole beneficiaries were traders, who export the commodity and make money without sharing its profit with the government in the form of taxes.
Sikander Khan one of the NWFP representatives told the committee gur-making was seriously hurting the industry in his province as a major portion of sugar cane crop goes in this activity. He said gur-makers, who most of the time buy standing crop in NWFP, were getting profit of Rs20 per kg without paying even a single penny to the government as tax. He offered minister for food, agriculture and livestock Sikander Boson that the NWFP industry was ready to pay growers its tax share of Rs 800 million to help them increase income and grow better crop in future.
The food minister noted concerns and informed the committee that the government was abreast of the situation arising out of delay in the start of crushing season in Punjab.
He said mills were given the deadline of November 15 to start crushing but majority of mills did not honour the commitment. He claimed the government was on its feet to ensure that crushing does not delay for a long time.
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