KATHMANDU.

The sugarcane farmers in Sarlahi district are yet to get their due payment amounting to around Rs 240 million. The Annapurna Sugar Mill at Dhankaul in the district owes them this hefty amount, according to the farmers. The sugarcane farmers had taken to street in Kathmandu last December, demanding clearance of their payment dues from the sugar mills. 

Following an agreement which pledged their payment clearance by January 10 this year, some mills had started paying their dues. The Annapurna Sugar Mill is however yet to clear their dues. Sugarcane farmer Ram Pratap Mahato of Mahinathpur in Dhankaul Rural Municipality bemoaned that their payment was long overdue. He also blamed the government for its cavalier attitude for its positive intervention to ensure them their due payments from the sugar mills.

Similarly, Kapilmuni Neupane, chairperson of Nepal Federation of Sugarcane Producers, said that the farmers are yet to get their payment for three to four years which has led to despair among the farmers. All the farming and sugar production related works have been halted due to the lockdown and prohibitory order issued by the government to contain the COVID-19 in community level. Farmers are in despair as they are uncertain of their payment.