Government Forms Task Force to Investigate Agricultural and Livestock Subsidies

Kathmandu. The government has formed a five-member task force to investigate agricultural and livestock subsidies provided over the past decade. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Climate has formed a five-member task force to investigate agricultural and livestock subsidies provided from the fiscal year 2072/73 to date.

The task force, chaired by Joint Secretary Badri Prasad Dahal, has been given a deadline of six months to submit a detailed report to the ministry.

The task force has been recommended to review old reports, assess the status of subsidy misuse, and suggest appropriate steps for improvement.

The government has been operating various subsidy programs annually for agricultural production growth and commercial agriculture in the agriculture and livestock sector, which contributes about 25 percent to Nepal's gross domestic product.

In previous years, there have been allegations regarding the effectiveness of subsidies, with claims that subsidy amounts have not reached actual and marginalized farmers and that monitoring has been weak.

The task force's terms of reference (TOR) include reviewing old reports and identifying payments where subsidies have been misused.

The task force has also been given the mandate to provide necessary recommendations with examples of best practices for effective systems through 'gap analysis' and to suggest appropriate steps for improvement by assessing the status of subsidy misuse.

The task force will have to submit its progress report to the Secretary of the Ministry at least twice a month or more frequently as needed.