Karnataka govt withholds decision to lease Mysore Sugars
Bengaluru, Oct 18: Karnataka government on Monday decided to withhold its decision to lease the Mandya-based The Mysore Sugars Company Ltd (MySugar) temporarily, and would constitute an expert committee to recommend to it about the company's future.
Also, it said the factory would commence crushing of sugarcane from the next season.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today chaired a nearly three-hour-long high-level meeting with senior Ministers, public representatives and farmers' representatives from Mandya district here to discuss about MySugar following opposition against leasing it.
"An expert committee will be set up to study the condition of the machinery and other technical aspects, finances needed to restart the factory and the working capital needed to make payment to farmers for sugarcane in consultation with bankers," he said.
Speaking to reporters here after the meeting, he said the committee would also study the aspects of value addition of converting molasses and also whether the molasses would be used in distillery or for ethanol with an aim to make the factory financially viable.
To supervise the factory, an efficient officer would be appointed as the managing director with industrial expertise, and an accountant recommended by the Auditor General would be appointed, Bommai said. "The report submitted by the expert committee will be placed before the Cabinet to take a final decision," he said
Pointing out that an earlier Cabinet had decided to hand over the factory on lease, he further said, "If it has to be changed, it has to be decided by the Cabinet itself, we will take a decision based on the committee report...till then it has been decided to withhold the earlier decision to privatise (to lease) for now."
The move to lease the State-owned sugar factory, which was established in 1934, has come under opposition from various sections, including farmers, who are staging protests in Mandya.
Opposition parties JD(S) and Congress have also opposed the move.
Recently, the Chief Minister met the farmers and assured them of an amicable solution.
Stating that the government is firm in its decision to restart crushing of cane from the next season, Bommai today said he would immediately release funds required for updating or overhauling the machinery required for the purpose.
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Bond between Assamese Muslims, Hindus very strong: Author Wasbir Hussain
Guwahati (PTI): The bond between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims is very strong and no one can easily break the traditional friendship between the two communities, Wasbir Hussain, author and executive director of Centre for Development and Peace Studies, has said.
Addressing the fourth anniversary celebrations of the Assamese Syed Welfare Trust, an organisation representing the Assamese Syeds, Hussain on Sunday urged Gauhati University to start a chair in the name of Azan Pir, a 17th-century Muslim reformer and Sufi saint, on the subject of 'inter-faith harmony or harmony of communities'.
Assamese Syeds are one of the five Muslim groups officially recognised by the Assam government as indigenous communities of the state.
Hussain said except religion, there is no difference between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims. Their language is the same, culture is the same, food habits are the same and they dress the same way, he said.
"I strongly believe that no one can easily break the traditional bond of friendship between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims," he said.
Hussain, who is also the editor-in-chief of Guwahati-based Northeast Live, spoke about how the indigenous Muslims of Assam follow cultural Islam compared to religious Islam and live peacefully with the larger Hindu population of the state.
He complimented Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for taking initiatives for the protection of the heritage of the Assamese Muslim community and its overall growth.
Gauhati University Vice Chancellor Nani Gopal Mahanta, the chief guest of the event, said people or communities can have multiple identities that transcend religion.
He cited the example of Assamese Muslims and Syeds who are descendants of Sufi saint Azan Pir, saying they are part of the greater Assamese society.
Mahanta assured that he will push for the Assamese Syed Welfare Trust's proposal to introduce the Azan Pir chair in Gauhati University and that he will work towards republishing the works of renowned Assamese writer Syed Abdul Malik's 'Jikirs Aru Jari'.
Assamese Syed Welfare Trust president Syed Abdul Rashid Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.
