Bijnor: The cane department has detected 10,500 ‘farmers’ who purchased sugarcane from cane growers at a discounted price and sold the produce to sugar mills at state advised price (SAP), pocketing the profit in the previous crushing seasons in Bijnor. This was done by procuring supply tickets fraudulently to sell cane to mills. According to officials, this was revealed when the department linked farmers’ land records with their Aadhaar card and scanned them. A probe has been ordered into the matter.According to officials, there are around three lakh farmers in Bijnor who supply cane directly to nine sugar mills in the district. During verification of farmers’ land records and Aadhaar, cane department found that many among the 10,500 so called “farmers” did not possess any agricultural land at all but secured supply tickets from the mill and sugarcane development societies through fraudulent means.Scrutiny of the papers also showed that many big farmers had more supply tickets than their sugarcane cultivation land.One supply ticket in Bijnor enables a farmer to sell 18 quintals of cane to mills. The number of supply tickets allotted to each farmer is based on the total land he possesses and its average yield per bigha.Giving details, district cane officer Yaspal Singh said, “We had formed several teams to verify farmers’ land records available with the revenue department after linking their Aadhaar cards with land records. The report revealed that around 10.500 farmers and touts were procuring excess supply tickets by fudging land records and providing fake information to the department. We have cancelled supply tickets of such farmers.”Singh added, “This time around we have warned farmers that if they cheat the (cane) department or mill and use more supply tickets than the land registered in their name with the revenue department, we may confiscate their crop which they sell on illegal supply tickets. Now, the cane department is planning a crackdown on this mafia.”Sources said thousands of touts and farmers got excess supply tickets in their names with the connivance of mill staff and cane department officials. Genuine farmers who do not get the supply ticket, fearing delay in harvest (leading to loss in content value of crop) sell it to those who have excess supply tickets at prices as low as Rs 220 to 250 a quintal against SAP at Rs 325.

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