Kathmandu, January 2
Minister for Commerce and Supplies Lekhraj Bhatta says the government is planning to introduce a system under which sugarcane farmers will receive pay immediately after selling their produce.
Bhatta, who was speaking at the upper house meeting on Thursday, said that the sugarcane farmers will receive the payment in their bank accounts. The minister’s comment comes days after sugarcane farmers from Sarlahi came to Kathmandu to protest government apathy towards their livelihoods. They say that various sugar mills in the district have not paid them for over three years.
Minister Bhatta said that the government has formed a committee to look into problems facing the sugarcane industry as a whole. “After we roll out the new system, the farmers will receive payment for the product immediately after the sugar mill buys it,” he said. Bhatta said that as machinery used by Nepali sugar mills had worn out, their efficiency was reduced compared to sugar mills across the border in India.
