Madar, the chief customs office of Siraha, has managed to collect more revenue than the target of revenue collection in 11 months of the current fiscal year 2081/082.
According to the office, except for the month of June, 13 crore 75 lakh 81 thousand revenue has been collected, which is 1 crore 62 lakh 89 thousand more than the total target of Rs 12 crore 12 lakh 92 thousand for the current year.
According to Toyanath Sapkota, head of customs, revenue has been raised more than the target in all months except December. He said, 'In November only 94 percent of the revenue was collected, in all the remaining months the target has been collected.' According to him, the overall revenue collection so far has reached 113 percent of the target.
Sapkota projected that the revenue would be higher than the target in June, the last month of the current year, and expressed his belief that 15 percent more revenue would be collected by the end of the year. Despite achieving success in revenue collection, the 'Plant Quarantine' service, which has been under discussion for a long time in Madar Customs, has not yet reached the stage of concrete implementation.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and related departments have repeatedly pointed out the need for service establishment, but due to procedural delays, the plan has stalled. According to Sapkota, if the Plant Quarantine Service is established in Madar, three customs offices namely Madar, Thadi and Rajviraj will be served.
All these points are directly connected to Mader through postal highways, which will facilitate coordination and transportation process. He clarified further and said, 'If plant quarantine service is provided in Mader, then the revenue collection will definitely be doubled.'
At present, businessmen who import-export agricultural products have to go to Biratnagar in the east or Jaleshwar in the west for quarantine verification. Businessmen have complained that this has caused an unexpected increase in not only transportation costs but also consumer prices.
