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A large number of farmers locked the gate of a sugar mill here in protest against the failure of the Muzaffargarh district administration to ensure payment of dues for sugarcane during the last three months.
According to Dawn, the farmers on Tuesday called drummers and danced to drumbeats making the protest a sort of lively festival. The drumbeats and farmers' dance woke the district administration officials who arrived at the scene. "The mill was paying dues to farmers as per commitment but when the Federal Investigation Agency took action against sugar brokers, it affected the sugar bag supplies," Dawn quoted an official of the sugar mill as saying. He said a huge stock of sugar was lying on the mills' premises but no contractor was ready to buy it. A large number of farmers also occupied the deputy commissioner's office and alleged that no one was ready to help them because when they approached the DC office, they were asked to contact the assistant commissioner, where the representative of AC writes a few names of farmers who could be facilitated, reported Dawn. Farmers alleged the mills' cane general manager was responsible for the payment fiasco as he did not meet any farmer. Farmers Lateef, Abdul Rehman, and Chaudhry Boota complained this time the mill and the district administration had disappointed them on the payment issue. Deputy Commissioner Amjad Shoaib Tareen said he was looking into the matter. He further added that he gave the last warning to mill officials if they did not release payments, he would take strict action against them. (ANI)
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