Karnali Province's Pesticide Labs Remain Non-operational Despite Investment

Surkhet. The pesticide laboratories built by the Karnali Province government with the aim of making it an 'Organic Karnali Province' are themselves in disrepair. Nearly five years after the construction of buildings in Salyan's Kuprakot and Surkhet's Harre, these laboratories have not been able to become operational. The province government had conceived the idea of operating pesticide laboratories at two major entry points to Karnali Province to make it a 'Pesticide-Free Province' back in 2075 BS. Accordingly, a budget of 1 crore 50 lakh was allocated in the fiscal year 075/076 for the construction of pesticide laboratories. Although laboratory buildings have been constructed in two places, they have not been operationalized yet. Currently, the laboratory buildings in both locations are in disrepair. According to the Ministry of Land, Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, 70 lakh rupees have been spent on land purchase and building construction for the pesticide laboratory at Harre in Bheriganga Municipality-4. Similarly, a similar amount has been spent on the Kuprakot building. The building in Kuprakot was completed in 076 BS. The laboratory building in Harre, completed in 077 BS, is now becoming dilapidated. The Harre building was constructed under the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Cooperative. The province government has invested crores of rupees from building construction to the purchase of machines for pesticide testing. However, the government has not shown interest in managing human resources to bring the pesticide laboratories into operation. The machines, purchased with lakhs of rupees, are gathering dust in the office of the Integrated Agriculture Laboratory in Birendranagar. Usha Adhikari, information officer at the Integrated Agriculture Laboratory under the province government, stated that although it was planned to be operationalized earlier, the delay was due to the lack of human resources. 'We are planning to operate it now, but it has been delayed due to a lack of manpower,' she told Ratopati. 'We are discussing with the ministry for manpower, but the ministry has not been able to manage staff so far.' The Integrated Laboratory had requested the necessary budget and skilled manpower from the ministry a year ago. The ministry has not managed the staff yet. According to Adhikari, the necessary materials and equipment for both laboratories have arrived. She stated that the laboratories could not be operated due to a lack of manpower. For the two laboratories, 12 (6 each) employees were requested last year. According to Adhikari, after the ministry did not pay attention, the office repeatedly urged the ministry to manage office assistants and the required technicians for the operation of the office. She mentioned that recently, some files have moved from the ministry. Since there are no employees in the building, the goods purchased for the laboratory have not been transported there. 'We have not sent the goods there because we fear they might get lost if there are no staff,' she said. The Integrated Laboratory plans to operate them within this fiscal year once the staff are managed. Locals say that despite reaching out to local leaders, ministers, and the chief minister multiple times for the operation of the laboratories, they have not been operationalized yet.

• What was the objective?

The laboratory construction was started with the aim of preventing agricultural products with pesticide use from entering Karnali Province. A former employee of the Ministry of Agriculture says, 'The idea was to test vegetables and fruits coming from India to make it an organic province, and if pesticides were found during testing, it would send a message that vegetables produced in Karnali are better than those from outside.' He also stated that the objective of the then government was to make it a pesticide-free province. However, he said that the campaign did not materialize with the change of government. Another employee of the ministry says that although the then government led by Mahendra Bahadur Shahi built the pesticide laboratory buildings, subsequent governments did not pay attention to their operation. He said that the laboratory buildings are currently 'sick' due to a lack of necessary budget and manpower. 'The buildings were built, but machinery and manpower were not provided,' the employee said. 'It's not that the ministry was not approached multiple times, but it has been left in limbo due to frequent changes in secretaries/ministers.' The buildings have been there for a long time and are dilapidated, requiring renovation. A staff member says there is a lack of budget for that. The province government has stated in the policy and program for the upcoming fiscal year that both laboratories will be brought into operation. In point number 3 of the policy and program, it is stated, 'Pesticide residue testing services will be operated in Kuprakot of Salyan and Harre of Surkhet.' Sunil Limbu, spokesperson for the Ministry of Land, Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, said that work is currently underway for staff management.