BHUBANESWAR: Hundreds of farmers and workers under the aegis of Nayagarh Sugar Mill Kriyanusthan Committee staged a protest here on Monday seeking immediate intervention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for reopening of Nayagarh Sugar Complex Limited (NSCL) that has been lying closed since 2015.
The agitators were detained by the Commissionerate Police when they tried to march towards Naveen Niwas, the residence of the Chief Minister. The protestors, who arrived in the State Capital on Monday after a four-day padyatra from the sugar mill in Nayagarh on January 30, gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi Marg to raise their voices over the demand.
Later, a five-member delegation led by former Khandapada MLA Sidharth Sekhar Singh went to Chief Minister’s Grievance Redressal Cell to submit a memorandum in this regard. However, the delegation walked out of the place alleging that they were kept waiting at the office for hours and weren’t allowed to meet anyone. Following which, the delegation and farmers started marching towards the Chief Minister’s residence. However, the police detained them and took into preventive custody.
During the protest, the members also demanded expulsion of Arun Sahoo from the Council of Ministers. "In spite of being a public representative from Nayagarh Assembly segment, the Agriculture Minister has failed to take any substantial measures for reopening of the mill on which thousands of farmers and employees were dependent for their livelihood," said a committee member Shivram Mishra.
They also alleged that chairman of the NSCL Trailokya Mishra was running the mill from 2004. The chairman, however, closed the factory in 2015 putting livelihood of thousand of farmers and workers at stake.
More than 12,000 farmers in eight districts and 600 workers in the mill were badly affected due to its closure, Shivram said seeking immediate intervention of the State Government for revival of the factory.