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Farmers not getting subsidized fertilizers
NEPALGUNJ/DANG/BARDIA, AUG 09 -
Farmers of the Tarai and inner Madhes have not been able to obtain subsidized quality fertilizers even after the end of the paddy plantation season forcing them to purchase smuggled substandard fertilizes.
Farmers of Banke, Bardia and Dang who could not get subsidized fertilizers have blamed government officials for allegedly promoting the sale of smuggled fertilizers at inflated prices. The districts are well-known for paddy production.
Farmers have blamed the police administration and officials of the Revenue Investigation Offices of all three districts for providing protection to smuggling instead of controlling the practice.
Smugglers have been mainly using southern border of Bardia for illegal trading. They have been using Basgadhi and Maina Pokhar as their main route for smuggling who carry the illegally imported fertilizers through Balai village. They have also been using the route of Lalpur which passes through Ratnapur and Muhammadpur. They use small boats from Bhadaghat of Gularia on the Babai River along the Nepal-India border for smuggling. Smugglers are using VDCs like Muhammadpur,
Kalika, Mainapokhar and Basgadhi of Bardia and Khajura, Nepalgunj and Kohalpur of Banke to store
the fertilizers that have been imported illegally.
Chandra Bahadur Tharu, a local farmer, expressed anger saying that the police turn a blind eye to smuggling on the routes where they have responsibility to control the practice. “But the police hassle local farmers who import fertilisers themselves to use in their field,” said Tharu.
Smugglers also get political protection. Hukum Basnet, district member of the CPN-UML, said he was involved in delivering fertilizer in Bardia to assist the farmers, as they were not receiving it in desired quantities.
The source said that top leaders of various political parties pressured the police when it had confiscated smuggled fertiliser in Bardia in the past. The Bardia Customs Office has confirmed 100 sacks of fertiliser, which the police confiscated two weeks earlier, also belonged a trader in Dang.
The collectors are distributing the smuggled fertilizers to various districts although the government and cooperative organisations are only authorised for distribution.
Amulya Lal Shrestha, an official of branch office of Agriculture Input Company Limited, Nepalgunj said various cooperatives are only authorised to sell and the contractors authorised by Agriculture Development Office could only transport the subsidized fertilizers.
According to a police official, Assistant Inspector General of Police Kiran Gautam directed the junior police officials not to control the smuggling in context of that the government failing to supply adequate, said a police source.
Posted on: 2010-08-10 09:13
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