KATHMANDU: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Lima Acharya has urged the government to ensure immediate payment for farmers’ agricultural produce, asking how they can manage essential expenses like children’s school fees when payments are delayed.
Speaking during the zero hour of the House of Representatives meeting on Thursday, Acharya demanded a legal provision guaranteeing that farmers receive payment for their produce within 15 days.
She said farmers engaged in milk, sugarcane, rice, and other agricultural production across the country are still awaiting long-overdue payments.
Citing an example, she said farmers in Makwanpur alone are owed over Rs 1.4 billion in milk payments. She added that this is not an isolated issue but reflects a nationwide problem affecting producers of milk, sugarcane, rice, and other commodities.
Acharya said farmers are unable to pay for cattle feed and even their children’s school fees on time due to delayed payments, forcing many young people to leave agriculture and seek employment abroad.
She stressed that the country cannot achieve prosperity by leaving farmers financially struggling and called for stronger policies to ensure food self-sufficiency and agricultural sustainability.
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