The Hindu Business Line : Mayawati’s latest — A different obsession for sugar sector

New Delhi, Aug. 15 In her latest innings as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Ms Mayawati seems to have marked out the sugar sector for special treatment.

One of her first acts after taking over was to scrap the Sugar Industry Promotion Policy framed by her predecessor, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s administration. In one stroke, the various sops doled out under the Policy — to attract investments in new mills and expansion of existing ones — were done away with. This was followed by the demolition of the Cane Commissioner’s multi-storey office in Lucknow’s posh Mall Avenue to apparently make way for a new memorial to honour the Dalit icon and Father of India’s Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

“There is already a Ganna Sansthan (Cane Organisation) building at the Dalibagh area, which even houses an auditorium. The present administration felt it would make sense to move the Cane Commissioner’s office there,R 21; according to a State Government official.

Now, the State Government wants the Centre to hand over 17 acres belonging to the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (IISR) at Lucknow (on the Rae Bareli road) — this time for building a memorial for the erstwhile Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief and Ms Mayawati’s mentor, Mr Kanshi Ram.

“They have made a request for land from the IISR, which is a central institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). We are examining it,” a Union Agriculture Ministry official confirmed to Business Line.

Aware that such a request cannot be turned down easily given the current political equations, the Ministry has set up a ‘committee’ under the Deputy Director-General (Horticulture), Dr H.P. Singh, to ‘look into’ the proposal.

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