Cane farmers to get interest on arrears, says HC

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court has ordered that sugar mills pay interest to cane farmers on arrears and that banks suspend agriculture loan recovery till farmers get their payment in full. On a petition filed by VM Singh, a farmer rights activist regarding arrears by millers, Justice Uma Nath Singh of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court said that farmers be paid interest on the amount due to them if there is a delay in payment.

VM Singh said the court ordered that millers clear arrears in the next 15 days and the case be listed for hearing again after four weeks. He said the order would benefit 40 lakh cane farmers in the state. He said millers often delay payment to farmers. He said arrears in mid-April were Rs 5,000 crore and currently stood at more than Rs 1,600 crore for the 2011-12 season.