Rautahat Sugarcane Farmers' Subsidy Issue Resolved After Administration Meeting

Rautahat. The problem of sugarcane farmers in Rautahat, who have been waiting for government subsidy funds for a long time, is moving towards a solution. Following discussions held at the District Administration Office, Rautahat on Thursday, an agreement has been reached to expedite the subsidy payment process by providing the necessary details and documents within seven days. With this agreement, all the protest programs announced by the sugarcane farmers have also been postponed.

This decision was made in a meeting attended by representatives including the District President of the Sugarcane Producers Association, Ashok Yadav, in the presence of Rautahat CDO Dinesh Sagar Bhusal and under the chairmanship of Assistant CDO Jitendra Kumar Yadav.

As per the decision, subsidies will be provided to eligible farmers in accordance with the 'Working Procedure for Providing Subsidy to Sugarcane Farmers (Amendment), 2075'. The District Administration Office has stated that local levels and concerned bodies will submit the farmer's details and necessary documents within seven days, and after verification as per regulations, the payment process will be expedited.

The meeting directed all local level chief administrative officers and agricultural branch employees to actively facilitate the process of collecting farmer details. They were also urged to play a coordinated role from the collection of details to problem resolution.

District President of the Sugarcane Producers Association, Ashok Yadav, stated that the administration has taken responsibility for securing the subsidy amount, and the farmers have agreed to provide the necessary documents on time. He informed that all protest programs have been postponed for now following the agreement to start the payment process immediately.

CDO Bhusal said that arrangements have been made for the sugarcane to be certified by the sugar industry (mill) and the farmers to be certified by the local level. He clarified that once the necessary documents are complete, it will be easier for the subsidy payment committee to proceed with the process, and work is being expedited to deposit the subsidy amount into the farmers' bank accounts within a week.

Previously, due to administrative delays, subsidy funds worth approximately 70 million rupees had been frozen. However, the association has stated that after coordinating with higher authorities, assurances have been received to make this amount available again. Farmers had become agitated after not receiving the subsidy amount on time due to the shortcomings of Assistant CDO Yadav, and the risk of 70 million rupees being frozen. On Wednesday evening, they protested by burning sugarcane near the Garuda Jhanjh bridge and blocked the Gaur-Chandrapur main road for 4 hours.