Leaders of political parties have come to show solidarity with the farmers who have come to Kathmandu to protest against the government's halving of the subsidy for the sale of sugarcane. Not only the opposition, the leaders of the ruling party are also active in 'photo session' with the farmers by reaching Maitighar, but there are few leaders who communicate directly with the party and the government on what the demands of the farmers are and how to address them.

Last November, the government increased the minimum support price of sugarcane by Rs 20 per quintal to Rs 585. This is the price paid by the sugarcane mill to the farmer, but the farmer has to bear the Mahabharata to get this amount. The government has also been giving subsidies to farmers to encourage sugarcane production. The Ministry of Agriculture had prepared a proposal to give a subsidy of Rs 70 per quintal this year as well. However, the Ministry of Finance said - the government does not have money in the treasury, sugarcane farmers cannot be subsidized. 

Last financial year, sugar mills across the country bought 21.5 million quintals of sugarcane. In this calculation, if the subsidy is given at the rate of 70 rupees, the farmer gets 1.5 billion 5 million. Last year's budget of 800 million was left with the Ministry of Agriculture.

After the budget did not come from the money, the ministry again proposed to the cabinet to give subsidy at the rate of 35 rupees per quintal from last year's budget. The same proposal was approved by the Council of Ministers on 23 June. However, the farmers are protesting as only half of the subsidy will be received than in previous years. About 600 sugarcane farmers from 13 districts from Morang to Kanchanpur are participating in the movement which has been going on in Kathmandu since Sunday under the leadership of Sugarcane Producer Federation.  

Former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai, Maoist Senior Vice President and former Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha reached Maitighar on Tuesday to show solidarity in this movement. Ruling Congress leader NP Saud, UML leaders Achyut Mainali and Hari Upreti also met and supported the farmers. Maoist leaders and former ministers Girirajmani Pokharel and Bina Magar also reached Maitighar. Congress General Minister Gagan Thapa met Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Ramnath Adhikari and asked them to give subsidy at the rate of 70 rupees per quintal as per the demand of sugarcane farmers. 

Madhesh-centric leaders of almost all parties have expressed solidarity with the farmers' movement. Nepal Sadbhavana Party leader Anil Jha, LOSPA's Jitendra Sonal, Janamat Party leader Chandan Singh and other leaders supported the movement. Former Chief Minister of Madhesh Province Lal Babu Raut and former Minister Saroj Yadav also reached Maitighar to express their solidarity. In this way, most of the leaders who expressed solidarity were in executive roles in the long-term government in the past. The farmers are surprised when the leaders who did not listen to the demand when they were in the government in the past are now coming to show solidarity in the movement. 

Sugarcane Farmers' Struggle Committee President Ramswarth Rai says, 'After the agitation, the leaders come, ironically, only for photos.' Kapil Muni Mainali, President of the Sugarcane Growers' Federation, says that it is sad that even though the leaders came to the agitation to support, they could not put pressure on the government. "It is good for leaders to come to support the farmers' movement, but now it seems that it is only a matter of taking pictures for popularity," he says, "It seems that their own propaganda is more important than the farmers' issue." 

Kisan had previously submitted a memorandum to Agriculture Minister Adhikari, Industry, Commerce and Supply Minister Damodar Bhandari and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel. After that, the acting president of the Federation, Shyambabu Rai, said that despite submitting the memorandum to the Chief District Officer of the concerned district, there was no hearing. He said, "Even though the government did not listen to the protest in the district, we have started a protest in Kathmandu, and the protest will not stop until the grants are given." The Ministry of Finance has been taking the stand that although the external indicators of the economy are positive, the state of government finances is critical, and farmers cannot be given subsidies as before. 

Meanwhile, to discuss the demands of the farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture has formed a four-member negotiation committee under the coordination of Lalan Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General of the Department of Agriculture. The committee discussed with the farmers on Thursday but could not reach a conclusion. The discussion with the farmer did not yield any results. We have requested to postpone the protest," said Lal Kumar Shrestha, a member of the committee and Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. "The government has already decided to give a subsidy of Rs 35 per quintal. A policy decision should be made for an additional 35 rupees. He said that the question arises as to why other crops were not given to sugarcane farmers at the rate of 70 rupees per quintal. 

Agriculture and Livestock Development Minister Adhikari said that he is aware of the demand of sugarcane farmers and is advocating for the farmers. "Being aware of the issue of farmers, I have been working on their side," he said, "We have given subsidies according to the sources, and we have utilized them fully." On Friday, I will discuss the demands of sugarcane farmers with the finance minister and in the cabinet meeting.' Farmers were suffering from problems such as the industry not buying sugarcane at the support price set by the government and delay in payment. According to the Sugarcane Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, since 31 Baisakh 2076, sometimes demanding payment, sometimes demanding to receive subsidy on time, there have been repeated protests. The struggle committee was formed in May 2076. 

Farmers protested for 16 days in Maitighar in October 2077. At that time, 4 points were agreed between the government and Sugarcane Farmers Sangharsh Committee. The farmers had also come to Kathmandu in July 2078 to protest that the sugar mills had not paid 29 crores. 

Sugarcane is cultivated in 89 thousand 918 hectares across the country. Thousands of farmers are engaged in sugarcane cultivation in Sarlahi, Morang, Sirha, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi, Kailali, Kanchanpur and other districts. There is an annual demand of 285 thousand metric tons of sugar in Nepal. But the production has not been able to meet the demand. Market demand is met by legal and illegal imports. According to Krishna Bajgari, Statistics Officer of Trade and Export Promotion Center, sugar worth 2.82 billion rupees was imported in the last financial year.