Kathmandu: Sugarcane and milk producers are still to receive more than Rs 2.57 billion as payments from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development for the items sold to the government, reports Republica.
Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) said milk producers were yet to receive more than Rs 1.27 billion and sugarcane growers an amount of Rs 1.30 billion in subsidies.
At a press meeting on Sunday, Minister for Agriculture Ram Nath Adhikari said that the government has already made a payment of Rs 335.70 million of the outstanding dues to the milk producers. He assured that the remaining costs for both milk and sugarcane farmers would be settled before the festivals.
According to Minister Adhikari, the MoALD will soon publicize the names of individuals who conducted malpractices in using the agricultural grants that the government had provided to farmers. The Ministry received numerous complaints that such funds were used for other purposes than what was intended to enhance agricultural productivity.
He said the government would go on to classify farmers to better offer state-supported services. This plan, previously announced with a promise of issuing some identity cards to farmers based on such classification, has not yet come to materialization.
Currently, over 1, 820, 000 are listed in the Farmers Enlisting Program which started last fiscal year. The government had targeted enlisting at least 1.2 million farmers this fiscal year. “We are linking the provision of grants facilities to the farmers who have already been registered to further improve agricultural productivity,” Adhikari said.
