Famers and shareholders of Pandavapura Sahakara Sakkare Karkhane (PSSK), a cooperative sugar mill at Pandavapura, staged a dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner’s officer here on Thursday demanding that an inquiry be ordered into various alleged irregularities in the sugar unit.
The protesters took out a rally from the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway to Deputy Commissioner’s office premises, where they staged a dharna.
The sugar mill had failed to clear dues of cane suppliers in spite of utilising the financial support provided by the State government, the former president of the cooperative sugar factory Honnagiri Gowda, who led the protest, alleged.
The PSSK had to pay crores of rupees to sugarcane suppliers. The sugarcane growers had been put to hardship owing to non-receipt of payment from the mill, he said.According to the protestors, the mill management was exploiting the workers by not providing them with the benefits of provident fund and other social security facilities. The mill management had misused the funds, they said.
