Farmers are hopeful that Shriram Sugar Mill located in Garuda Municipality-5, which has been closed for a long time, will be operational. Recently, the farmers became hopeful after the mill owner said that the mill can be operated if they are able to manage the liabilities of banks, employees and suppliers.

The management side of the mill, which is owned by the trading house Golcha Group, had suffered a loss of crores and closed the mill from 10th July 2077 citing the compelling situation. After the continuous movement of representatives of political parties in the district, sugarcane farmers and the initiative of the government to operate the mill, the management side has said that the process of operating the mill will be carried out only after the problem of matching the liabilities is resolved .

'The mill cannot be operated in the present situation . Now we have to go to the new technology and operate only . For that, crores will be spent," said Ramesh Dahal, the representative of the mill. But if the problem of liability can be solved, the owners are planning to operate in the near future . For this, everything has to be agreed.' After the mill was closed, the central office of Nepal Bank Limited held an auction for 43 crores a year and a half ago, showing the state of debt.

Yagyamurthy, the manager of the center's debt collection department, came to Tali with Basyal to understand the situation by auctioning the parts of the said mill. As soon as the team reached the premises of Sriram Sugar Mill, the farmers surrounded it . The bank should have understood the situation and prepared to take it. But the time was not as cool as the team thought. As soon as they came to know that the bank's team had reached the mill premises, a group of farmers came to surround them. The bank team was not allowed to enter.

The Garuda team of the local police office immediately rescued the bank representatives and took them to the office. Farmers were adamant that they would not take the mills under any circumstances. They put forward the demand for canceling the auction done by the bank. According to the information given by the central office of the bank, the amount of the person who took the money after canceling the auction process has been returned. 

Ashok Yadav, President of Sugarcane Producers Association, Rautahat, said that they are optimistic because the bank has canceled the auction and the mill operators are positive. "Still, we are ready to help the mill operator in whatever way," he said. We are happy now.' After the mill was closed, the farmers of the district are united. They have been appealing to the Prime Minister, various political parties, parliamentarians, ministers, and people's representatives. Under the leadership of Sugarcane Producers Association Rautahat, the farmers from all over the district met the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Chairman of United Samajwadi Party and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and the then Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and requested to start the initiative for the operation of Garuda Mill. 

The foundation stone was laid in 2049 and the mill started crushing sugarcane from 2051. Since the establishment of the mill, there are 16,000 sugarcane farmers in the district according to the Sugarcane Growers Association. The farmers have been agitating for re-operation after the mill owned by Golcha group was closed by the management citing the loss of crores and forced situation.

Every year, the industry is suffering crores of losses and the management side has informed that the mill has to be closed as there is a financial shortage even to pay the minimum wages to the workers and employees working in the industry. Chairman of Sugarcane Producers' Association Yadav said that 325 seasonal, regular and contractual employees lost their jobs due to the closure of the mill, which has been in continuous operation for 26 years. He is also the coordinator of Mill Bachau Sangharsh Samiti. A few days ago, under the leadership of the

association, the farmers from all over the district, carrying sugarcane plants in their hands, reached the district administration and submitted a memorandum demanding the cancellation of the mill operation and unauthorized tender. Krishna Yadav, Member of Parliament of Madhesh Province, said that he had met with Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba several times to discuss the operation of the sugar mill at Garuda. "We are still of the opinion that the mill should run," he said, "It was not closed because of farmers." It is because of the management. Now the government should also take initiative to bring it into operation soon.' 

The goal of the mill was to crush sugarcane up to 3 million quintals in one season for the farmers of Bara, Parsa and Rautahat. But the mill management side claims that the losses started after they started crushing less than 15/20 in the last 10 years.