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Sugarcane Farmers Await 190 Crores in Kailali and Kanchanpur

२०८० कार्तिक २४, ०४:२६ Dineshkhabar Desk

Dhangadhi: Sugarcane farmers in the Terai districts of Kailali and Kanchanpur, located in the Far West Province, are facing a substantial delay in receiving approximately 190 crores in subsidies.

The government, as part of its ongoing support to sugarcane farmers supplying to the Nepalese sugar industry, allocates subsidies to be transferred directly to the bank accounts of the farmers. This annual process involves disbursing funds to the districts' controller of funds and accounts, where sugar industries operate. However, despite the prescribed timeline, farmers are yet to receive the subsidies from the previous year.

In the preceding year, the government had set the minimum support price of sugarcane at Rs 610 per quintal. The agreement stipulated that the sugar industry would compensate farmers at the rate of Rs 540 per quintal, with the government contributing the remaining subsidy at Rs 70 per quintal. Regrettably, as the anniversary of sugarcane sales approaches, farmers remain without the anticipated subsidy.

The number of sugarcane farmers in Kailali and Kanchanpur has been steadily increasing. Operating in the rehabilitation of Kanchanpur, Bhageshwar Sugar Mill, and Belauri's Mahakali Sugar Mill processed a total of 26 lakh 66 thousand 48 quintals of sugarcane last year. Consequently, the owed subsidy to farmers amounts to 186.66 million 23 thousand rupees.

The government attributes the delay to a shortage of budget, a cause for concern for farmers eagerly awaiting the promised subsidies. Chetan Kumar Rai, Treasurer of Sugarcane Farmers Rights Protection Committee in Kanchanpur, expressed the worries of the farming community, highlighting the non-disbursement of the government-announced subsidies. In 2075, the government streamlined the subsidy process for sugarcane farmers, initially offering Rs 65.28 per quintal and later raising it to Rs 70 per quintal last year. Despite the timely submission of all necessary documents by the Office of the Controller of Finance and Accounts, the subsidy has yet to be released, leaving farmers in a state of uncertainty.

Dineshkhabar Desk

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