Addressing reporters on Saturday evening, Desai said many sugar cooperatives were sick and mismanaged by the politicians running them. Of the 112 cooperatives in the state, 23 remained shut during the recent crushing season for various reasons like financial irregularities and shortage of cane. If the current state of affairs continues, more sugar cooperatives would remain closed in the next crushing season, he said.

Referring to the recent Supreme Court order ratifying the decision of the Manohar Joshi Government to delimit captive cultivation zones attached to each cooperative, Desai said the decision would help farmers secure better prices for their products. However, the delimitation would increase competition and only healthy, professionallymanaged cooperatives would survive, he pointed out.

Some of the cooperatives were financially mismanaged to the extent that employees in 27 of units had not been paid for the last 30 months. The council had circulated a questionnaire comprising 20 posers to each of the 112 cooperative to conduct an in-depth study of their problems. A separate committee headed by Shivajirao Patil is also conducting a survey of the sick cooperatives, he said.

The findings would be submitted to the government before the next crushing season, which usually begins at around Dassera. He said every effort would be made to discipline the cooperatives and weed out mismanagement. Desai observed that smaller cooperatives offered a higher price, up to Rs 200 per tonne for cane, than the larger ones. One reason for sickness, he pointed out, is the proximity factor. Some units were located too close one another, making them compete for the cane in the captive zone in the region.