Ganapathi Sugars was located on the outskirts of Fasalwad, about six kilometres from the Sangareddy district headquarters town. During summer, mostly in April and May, it will be busy with milling activity. One can see dozens of bullock carts, tractors and lorries full of sugarcane and waiting outside the mill for unloading. At times it takes days to unload forcing farmers/ labourers preparing their food and taking rest under the vehicles.
The sugar mill was commenced in 1996 to encourage farmers to take up sugarcane cultivation and make farmers beneficial. The plant site area was about 120 acres. Sugar is being cultivated on about 6,000 acres under the mill.
“The mill was started with about 500 employees. Slowly the strength of the staff was reduced to 230. All of a sudden on Friday morning the management pasted notices announcing lockdown. The management has no right to announce lockdown without obtaining permission from labour department,” K. Butchi Reddy, Chairman, Development Corporation, Sangareddy, told The Hindu.
There was agitation by employees even before commencement of present sugarcane crushing season over not entering into agreement by management. Union president M. Raghunandan Rao and labour officials intervened and saw that the season operation went on smoothly with some assurance over agreement.
“We have agitated for three months for wage revision and agreement, mandatory for every three years. We have entered into agreements six times so far. The last agreement expired and we have to enter into a new agreement. The officials promised to get the new agreement within two months but it had not taken place. Instead lockdown notice was pasted on the gate,” union secretary P. Srisailam said stating that they had crushed about 6,500 metric tonnes of sugarcane everyday and about 3.87 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane was crushed during last season and the yield was put at 15 per cent.
However, the management in the notice stated: “The terms of settlement shall be for an operative period of three years commencing from 01.04.2018 to 31.03.2021 (both days inclusive) and continue to remain operative and binding on parties hereafter until it is duly terminated and substituted with a new settlement in accordance with the provisions of Industrial dispute Act 1947. Despite the above provision, the workmen commenced illegal strike since 25th October 2021 which was withdrawn from 27.11.2021.” The management has also alleged that the union leaders indulged in acts of lawlessness, intimidation of managerial persons, use of abusive language and forcing the personnel manager to resign.
