Chapter Three Origin Anb Organisation of Hira
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CHAPTER THREE ORIGIN ANB ORGANISATION OF HIRA 39 In this chapter general and historical background of *Hira' is discussed. 1. Location 'Hira* is located at Sankeshwar in Belgaum District of Kamatak State. It is about 60 Kins from Kolhapur and 48 Kms i from Belgaum. It is close to Maharashtra boundary. Sankeshwar is situated at a very strategic position* giving easy access to Maharashtra* Konkan, Goa and Karnataka* It is situated on the banks of river Hiranyakeshi, after which the sugar factory is named, Sankeshwar is a very old and holy city. There is a Shankaracharya Math at Sankeshwar, About 5 kilometers from Sankeshwar* there is another famous and holy Matha of Lingayats* the Duradundeeshwar Matha* which is visited by thousands of Lingayats and many other communities regularly. 2, Physical Features of the Area The soil in this area is predominantly medium to deep black. It is fairly rich in phosphorous. It is responsive to irrigation and nitrogenous fertilizers. The average annual rainfall is 771,7 mm. The temperature in this area is maximum 100°P and minimum 8G°F which is favourable to sugarcane cultivation. The fanners in this area had. the knowledge of sugarcane cultivation since old times. They used 40 to prepare jaggery, Sankeshwar was a very big and famous jaggery market from where jaggery used to be exported to distant places. River Hiranyakeshi flows through this area. The quality of soil# the climate and irrigation available due to Hiranyakeshi river motivated the farmers to grow sugarcane. There are three dams on the river Hiranyakeshi at Gotur# Uilji and Gijavane, The inadequate rainfall has motivated the farmers to establish irrigation schemes. There are private pump-sets and also co-operative lift irrigation schemes. The timely requirement of abundant water is provided through these irrigation schemes. All these suitable factors motivated the farmers to establish the sugar factory in this area, 3, Area of Operation The area of operation of *Hira* consists of the 167 villages of Belgaum district which are within the radius of 22 miles from Sankeshwar in addition to 77 villages in Maharashtra area. One hundred and three villages in Hukkeri Taluka# 38 villages in Chikodi Taluka# 22 villages in Sokak Taluka and 4 villages in Belgaum Taluka in Karnataka and 64 villages in Gadhinglaj Taluka and 13 villages in Ajara Taliika in Maharashtra come in the area of operation of 'Hira*. 41 4« Aims and Objectives The aims and objectives of Hira are listed in its constitution and byelaws. They are as follows: 1 ■ To encourage self-help# thrift and co-operation among its members* 2 To inculcate among its members improved modern methods of agriculture and to supply seeds# manure# implements etc, and to promote agriculture# industry# education and well-being amongst members, 3 To manufacture sugar and its by-products out of the sugarcane supplied by the members, 4 To advance loans to farmers to improve their ' agriculture, 5 To start industries for the utilisation of the byproducts in the factory, 6 To undertake subsidiary and allied industries which are conducive to the development and benefit of the society, 5, Establishment of ‘Hira* The idea of establishing a sugar plant on co-operative basis in this part of Sankeshwar first originated in 1954 4411 A 42 through the initiation of M.P. Patil# who was a Minister of Co-operation in the State of Bombay at that time. M.P. Patil was from Sankeshwar and he knew this area well. He knew the active co-operative and political workers and also the crop pattern in this area. Due to his efforts and the lead taken by Appannagouda Patil# the factory became a reality in this part. Appannagouda Patil was a freedom fighter and a Congress leader of this area* He became the chief promoter and a founder member and worked hard to establish the factory. With the successo of Pravara Co-operative Sugar Factory# the government of Bombay and also that of India decided to launch co-operative movement in sugar industry - on a large scale. The government of Bombay proposed several projects to the government of India on the basis of applications received* In 1954# the government of India granted licences to 10 projects for the crushing season of 1956-57 in Bombay State# of which 'Hira* was one. Appannagouda Patil# the Chief promoter of *Hira*# tried and got the licence. The factory was registered on 10th September# 1956# under the Bombay Co-operative Societies Act# 1925. Even though Appannagouda Patil received a licence there were so many bottlenecks in the beginning. A factor that brought instability was states' reorganisa tion. The leaders of Bombay State knew that state reorganisation 43 will take place and Bon%ay-Karnataka area was neglected. After the reorganisation of states, New Mysore State came in to existence on 1st November# 1956 and *Hira* was allotted to it. Prior to that# it was merely registered# no other action was taken. Even the share capital was not contributed by the government of Bombay, After it was allotted to Mysore State# prompt action was taken by the government of Mysore, The Mysore State contributed 20 lakh rupees towards the share capital of *Hira* in the form of redeemable shares. This amount was to be redeemed i.e,# repayed by the factory out of its profits and its own capital funds. The factory also obtained a loan of Rs, 75 lakhs from the industrial Finance Corporation and rs, 30 lakhs from Mysore State Co-operative Apex Bank - to meet the cost of plant and machinery* The promoters required 20 lakh rupees towards the share capital of the proposed factory# which was a difficult target. This was the first attempt by sugarcane growers to run a modern factory on a co-operative basis. There was a general scepticism about its success. The share amount of Rs. 1#0G0 was also a very big amount at that time. The farmers had to be convinced of the viability of the proposal. Most of the farmers could not visualise establishing and managing a factory that involved a complex organisation and an annual turnover of erores of rupees. Some of them suspected that 44 the leaders would ‘eat* their money if the proposal did not materialise. Although some of the fanners were favourably inclined to the idea# most of them were small farmers without much ready cash to subscribe as share capital* The result was slow collection of share capital* In order to remove suspicions of farmers and to enhance their confidence rich merchants of Banjager* caste were nominated as directors on the Board* Farmers did business with such merchants and they had faith in them, Therefore 3 Banajager* CUN. Ajari from Gadhinglaj* G*R, Kanagali from Sankeshwar and M.V* Katti from Chikodi were nominated on the Board, Their persuasion was important in making the farmers shareholders. Factional rivalry in Congress party also affected adversely in collecting share capital* The Congress party in Kolhapur had two factions which were enimical to each other. One faction was led by Ratnappa Kumbha r* which was mainly supported by Lingayats and Jains, Appannagouda Patil was very close to this faction. Another faction was known as Shreshthi faction. It was mainly supported by Maratha community, This faction opposed the move of Appannagouda Patil to start a co-operative factory. Due to this conflict* factory shares were not purchased in large numbers in Maharashtra areas, A Maratha# S.B, Chavan# was nominated on the Board of Directors# * Banajagers Sub-caste of Lingayat, 45 so that Maratha farmers would purchase the shares of factory. But Marathas did not come forward to become shareholders of the factory. On the contrary they opposed the move, *Hira* is significant in more ways than one. It marks a new era in the sugar manufacturing industry in India# for# this factory is one of the first factories constructed by the Indian firms# with only about 20% of the parts imported from abroad* Again# it was the only one of its kind in this part; otherwise it was industrially a backward area of Belgaum district. It is also significant to note that the entire erection of the plant was completed in a record time of just one year. Foundation stone# marking the beginning of any work on the factory site# was laid on 20th May# 1960# the factory was in a position to take its trial crushing on 2nd June, 1961, After this trial crushing# the factory went into regular production on 5th November# 1961, Since the establishment of the factory# it has made steady and sustained progress and proved to be a successful enterprise. It repaid the loans taken from the industrial Finance Corporation and from the Mysore state Co-operative Apex Bank, Similarly# it has re-paid the share capital subscribed by Karnataka government, Thus, within a short; period# the shareholders of 'Hira* became full owners of the 46 factory. In the process they created assets worth millions of rupees. The factory expanded its daily crushing capacity from 1,250 tonnes in 1960-61 to 1,750 tonnes in 1968-69, then to 2,600 tonnes in 1975-76 and to 3,500 tonnes in 1980-81, Further, the factory has started an alcohol plant in 1972-73, It has also helped its shareholders, through its various services to increase their per acre yield of sugarcane. It has also succeeded in paying continuously higher prices for the cane supplied by agriculturists, 6, Premises of *Hira* 'Hira* has 150 acres of land, out of which about 25 acres of land is used for sugarcane cultivation and research.