Outsourced workers of KCP’s sugar factory here on Saturday staged a protest demanding that the company management withdraw the proposal to shift cane crushing from Lakshmipuram factory to Vuyyuru.
The company’s recent move to sack at least 150 contract workers in July and shifting of machinery to Vuyyuru factory has sparked resentment among the workers, triggering panic among the farmers and the employees on the future course of operations at the Lakshmipuram factory.
‘Livelihood at stake’
Challapalli Sugars Limited Workers Union vice-president K. Haribabu said that the factory had recently sacked contract workers and shifted the machinery, hinting at the closure of the factory, leaving thousands of farmers and those who depend on the sugarcane cultivation in the region of five mandals in the lurch.
Nearly 5,000 farmers are cultivating sugarcane in the mandals of Challapalli, Mopodevi, Ghantasala, Pamidi Mukkala and Koduru, and a few more thousands of workers are engaged in sugarcane cultivation.
“The company did not offer any clarity on the future operations for the ensuing crushing season likely to commence by December. There is a sense of fear among the workers, employees, and farmers that the Lakshmipuram factory would not be reopened once it is closed,” added Mr. Haribabu.
Shift of cane crushing
The company had recently hinted that it wanted to shift the cane from the Lakshmipuram area to the Vuyyuru factory for crushing in the next season.
