Rautahat Sugarcane Farmers Protest Administrative Delays Jeopardizing Subsidy

Rautahat. Sugarcane farmers in Rautahat have taken to the streets, citing that the sugarcane subsidy provided by the government is at risk due to administrative delays.

 Fearing the loss of subsidy amounting to approximately 70 million rupees, the farmers staged a road blockade for about four hours on Wednesday evening at Jhanjh Pul, located in Garuda Municipality along the Gaur-Chandranigahapur road.

During the protest, led by the Sugarcane Producers Association Rautahat, farmers blocked the road by burning tires at Jhanjh Pul. The road closure temporarily disrupted vehicular movement along the Gaur-Chandranigahapur road.

The government has arranged to provide a subsidy of 70 rupees per quintal to sugarcane farmers. However, due to the failure to submit the necessary recommendations for subsidy payment to the concerned ministry by the end of Asar, farmers in Rautahat are at risk of being deprived of the subsidy.

According to Ashok Kumar Yadav, chairman of the Sugarcane Producers Association Rautahat, 4,070 farmers in the district are awaiting subsidy payments totaling approximately 70 million rupees. He stated that while farmers in other districts have already received their subsidies, farmers in Rautahat are facing injustice because the recommendation process was not completed on time by the District Administration Office.

Chairman Yadav mentioned that they were compelled to protest as they faced the prospect of being denied the subsidy.

The farmers have accused Jitendra Yadav, the Assistant Chief District Officer of the District Administration Office Rautahat and the coordinator of the Sugarcane Farmers Subsidy Facilitation Committee, of negligence, which has stalled the recommendation process.

Meanwhile, Chief District Officer Dinesh Sagar Bhusal acknowledged that the problem arose because the recommendation process could not be completed on time by the facilitation committee as per the sugarcane farmers' subsidy work procedure. He assured that continuous coordination is being maintained with the ministry and that the farmers' issues would be resolved soon.

Following Chief District Officer Bhusal's commitment to finalize the subsidy-related process by Thursday, the farmers removed the road blockade around 10 PM on Wednesday.

However, the farmers have warned of resuming phased protests from Thursday if the administration's commitment is not fulfilled. They have demanded that the government ensure the payment of subsidy amounts by completing the recommendation process immediately.