March28: Lawmakers have demanded that the government take strong action againstsugar mills that are not making payments to sugarcane farmers.

Speaking atthe meeting of National Assembly on Tuesday, lawmaker RadheshyamAdhikari saidthat the government should protect farmers who are contributing to thegovernment's efforts of increasing farm productivity. “It should also make thesugar mills pay interest to farmers, penalizing them for the delayed payment,”he added.

Thirteen sugarmills in the country owe around Rs 9.50 billion to sugarcane farmers.
Another lawmaker BalaramBaskota also asked the government to take strong actionagainst sugar mills that are deliberately cheating farmers by not releasingtheir payments.
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Matrika Prasad Yadav, has startedtaking action against sugar mills. The ministry on Saturday directedsugar mills to submit schedule to make payment to farmers at the earliest.

Responding tothe ministry, sugar mills have pledged to start making payment to farmers fromApril 5. Some sugar mills have even not made payment to farmers for sugarcanepurchased in the past years.

Source: My Republica, 28^th March 2018