Dodhara Chandani. Sugarcane farmers of Kanchanpur have received a subsidy of Rs 1.28 billion 53 lakh 21 thousand 694 from the government in five years.
According to the Office of the Controller of Finance and Accounts, Kanchanpur, from the fiscal year 2076/77 to 2080/81, a subsidy of Rs 1.28 billion 53 lakh 21 thousand 694 has been paid to farmers for 15.8 million quintals of sugarcane.
Krishna Bahadur Dhami, Chief Treasury Controller of the Office of the Controller of Finance and Accounts, said that out of the sugarcane crushed in the sugar industry in Kanchanpur, there was no demand for subsidy of Rs 28 million 81 lakh 81 thousand. He said, ‘Recently, the number of farmers coming for subsidies has been decreasing.’
According to him, the number of farmers not requesting subsidies is increasing, considering the amount of sugarcane crushed by the sugar industry. In the fiscal year 2076/77, 128 farmers here did not receive the subsidy. Similarly, in the fiscal year 2077/78, the number of farmers not requesting subsidies reached 153, while in the fiscal year 2078/79, 376 farmers did not come to receive subsidies.
He said that in the fiscal year 2079/80, 226 farmers did not request subsidies. In the fiscal year 2080/81, the number of farmers not requesting subsidies reached 717. According to him, 29,843 farmers had applied for the subsidy in five years.
Out of these, 23,306 farmers received the subsidy within six months of selling sugarcane, while 6,108 farmers received the subsidy within a year of selling sugarcane. Similarly, 70 farmers received the subsidy after a year.
447 farmers have yet to receive the subsidy of Rs 15.3 million for the past three years. According to the office, sugarcane is cultivated in an area of 12,444 bighas in Kanchanpur. He said that although the government has been providing subsidies to farmers to encourage them, the number of farmers demanding subsidies has increased recently.
‘Many farmers have been deprived of subsidies because farmers do not register with the relevant municipality on time and the subsidy payment committee does not receive the details of sugarcane farmers on time,’ said Chief Fund Controller Dhami. ‘The number of farmers not receiving subsidies has increased due to issues such as delays in the distribution of subsidies and sugarcane farmers not applying for subsidies.’
It has been said that the number of farmers receiving subsidies has decreased due to procedural complications. ‘The government does not pay the subsidy on time’ Sugarcane farmer Hasta Bahadur Rawal said, ‘The subsidy amount given by the government has been misused and the actual farmers have not received the subsidy.’ He said that due to the open border here, sugarcane is coming to the Nepali sugar industry from India and the farmers here are not able to sell sugarcane.
Similarly, Dhwaj Bahadur Dhami of Bedkot Municipality-3 said that the government has not paid sugarcane subsidy for three years. ‘Even though the subsidy was received, the subsidy from 2079 BS has not been paid yet,’ he said, ‘Farmers have been facing problems in farming as they do not receive the subsidy amount on time.’
Kanchanpur Chief District Officer Laxman Dhakal said that strict measures will be taken at the border checkpoints to control sugarcane coming from India. “The government has provided subsidies to encourage Nepali farmers, and they should not be misused,” he said. “For that, farmers, local levels and other relevant bodies should be vigilant.”
He said that if the subsidy amount given by the government to farmers is allocated to the concerned fund and accounts controller’s office during budget formulation and the local level, sugar mills, farmers and payment committees all strictly follow the procedure for providing subsidies to sugarcane farmers, there will be no problem in the payment of subsidies.
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