NIZAMABAD: With Assembly elections due this year, shareholders of Nizamabad Cooperative Sugar Factory (NCSF) have started making efforts to attract the attention of all political parties so that they commit to the revival and running of the NCSF under the management of shareholders. Shareholders believe that this is the right time to exert pressure on opposition parties to get clear assurance on their demands.
Recently, a shareholders’ meeting was held wherein a resolution was adopted to hand over the factory and run it under shareholder management. The resolution was submitted to the district Collector, NCSF chairman, and District Cooperative Officer (DCO), but the government did not react to the issue.
In response, a shareholders’ committee meeting was held on Sunday on the premises of the NCSF under the chairmanship of Shareholders’ Committee president K Saireddy. The meeting decided to start a legal fight on this issue while continuing to build pressure on the political parties.
The NCSF was proposed in 1956 and started in 1962. The factory is situated beside the Nizamabad-Bodhan Road in Sarangapur and covers 300 villages, with shareholders belonging to 117 villages.
During the TDP regime, the government pursued a privatisation proposal, which shareholders challenged in court and got it successfully stopped. The factory was shut down in 2008 for several reasons. In 2011, the State government made some efforts to revive the factory and released `5.50 crore to clear the pending salaries of the employees. Due to the shutdown, the factory’s equipment has become idle and may get damaged.
After the formation of Telangana State, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao started efforts to study the issues faced by sugar factories in the cooperative sector and revive them. Officials conducted a study tour with elected and farmer representatives of different sugar factories in the State. The committee has already submitted a report which is pending with the government.
Meanwhile, rumours have started circulating that some big shots in Nizamabad district have set their sights on the factory. Some shareholders fear that the more than 90 acres of land owned by the factory may be at risk if the government does not take permanent measures to protect it.
Shareholders believe that this is the right time to revive the factory as the Union government too wants to strengthen the cooperative system and encourages ethanol promotion.
‘It will boost rural economy’
Shareholders’ committee president K Sai Reddy has said that if NCSF is revived, it will help rural economic activity