All protest programs have been postponed for two weeks after the government asked for time to decide on price determination and subsidy distribution.
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The Nepal Sugarcane Producers Federation, which had announced a protest from Monday, has postponed its protest program, citing the failure to set the minimum support price for sugarcane and the non-payment of subsidy.
Umesh Chandra Yadav, spokesperson of the Nepal Sugarcane Producers Federation, said that all protest programs have been postponed for two weeks after the government asked for time to decide on the price determination and subsidy distribution during the talks between the government, sugar manufacturers and farmers.
‘We have suspended the protest program immediately as per the government’s request as we have called for an indefinite highway shutdown from 15th Mangsir,’ Yadav said, ‘The government has assured to fix the price by next week. If the farmers’ demands are not met even now, we will start a Kathmandu-centric protest including street protests.’
In a meeting chaired by Jagannath Tiwari, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, it was agreed to postpone the street protests until 29th Mangsir and that the government will fix the minimum support price by that time.
The government is preparing to fix Rs 607 per quintal and Rs 70 per quintal this year. But the farmers have been demanding that a minimum of Rs 712 be fixed. Earlier, after repeated talks between the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, industrialists and farmers failed to reach an agreement, the federation had announced a one-hour road closure on 14th Mangshur and an indefinite closure of the highway from 15th Mangshur.
Due to the government's delay in fixing the price before the sugar industry starts operating, farmers have had to sell sugarcane at the old price and on credit. Earlier, the government had promised to provide a subsidy of Rs 70 per quintal in the fiscal year 2081/82, but has paid only Rs 35 as a subsidy, citing lack of resources.
