In the sugar mill area, which includes all of Kushtia and beyond for state owned Kushtia Sugar Mils Ltd., farmers do not have the freedom to sell their own harvest as they wish, such is the law. They have to sell it to the mill, only at a price fixed by the state. This year, they will get Tk 50.99 for 40 kilogram of sugarcane they deliver at the nearest buying centre, Tk 51.99 if they deliver at the mill gate. Half the price will be paid within 7 days; the other half takes 3 to six months. At each stop of the process, from recording weight of their cartload to taking payment, they face bureaucratic run around and do guess how to get things done. By the time they get final payment, as the Bangla saying goes, their profit sugar has been eaten away by ants.

Thanks to the forces of market, farmers have an "illegal" alternative. They can sell their harvest to molasses maker, who juice them in crude crusher, the kind that police went to seize, and cook them into molasses. They pay farmers Tk 55-60 for 40-kilo sugarcane. That is about 4 to 9 taka higher than mill rate. Add to that the comfort of selling from their village and getting hassle free immediate money for their sweat.

Comparing these two options explains why mills need to use police at taxpayers' money to force farmers' harvest into their rollers. Market economy is not at work here, not at work in our constitution, which in section 42(1) guarantees individual's right on his properties as Fundamental Rights.

Farmers should not give subsidy to the mill. Let's take the straight jacket off them, let them choose their best deal from the market.

Footnote: with such monopoly, sugar mills are making a lot of money, right? Wrong. They are perpetual losing machines. Cumulative loss of BSFIC mills stood at Tk 400 million (DS, Sept 2, 2004).