By Laxman Kafle

Kathmandu, Jan. 20: At least three sugar mills have not paid any dues to the sugarcane farmers by Sunday while three others have made partial payments. However, eight sugar mills have cleared all the dues.
Shree Ram Sugar Mill, Rautahat and Lumbini Sugar Industry and Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Mills of Nawalparasi have not paid any dues to the farmers till date, said Binod Khadka, information officer at the Department of Industry, under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
The Department of Industry is following up on the payment of sugar mills after the inking of five-point agreement between the agitating sugarcane farmers and the government on January 3.
As per the agreement, the Ministry is mediating between the two sides to clear the dues of the sugar mills by January 21.
Shree Ram Sugar Mill has Rs. 267.77 million in dues, Lumbini Sugar Industry has Rs.107 million and Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Mill has Rs. 84 million.
According to Khadka, owners of Lumbini Sugar Industry and Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Mill had not come into contact till date. “We are trying to contact them.”
But as per the information received, Shree Ram Sugar Mill owner has made an agreement with the farmers to clear all dues and open the mill. It even signed an agreement with the farmers, but the mill has not come into operation, he informed.
However, three sugar mills including Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill, Indira Sugar and Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd and Annapurna Sugar and General Industries Pvt. Ltd, have begun paying the dues.
Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill, Sarlahi has paid Rs. 115 million out of total dues amounting to Rs. 214 million.
Annapurna Sugar and General Industries Private Limited has paid Rs. 39 million out of Rs. 300 million. And Indira Sugar and Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd has paid only of Rs. 7.4 million out of Rs. 112 million by today.
Rakesh Agrawal is the owner of Indira Sugar and Agro Limited and Annapurna Sugar and General Industries.
Dinesh Bhattarai, spokesman at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said that the Ministry had already sent a letter to Indira Sugar and Agro Limited and Annapurna Sugar and General Industries to clear dues by January 21.
“The payment status of these industries is very poor. So, we have urged all sugar mill owner to clear dues at the earliest. They have to pay above Rs. 370 million to the sugarcane farmers,” he said.
In case of Lumbini Sugar Industry and Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Mill who have not come into contact, the Ministry of Industry has written to Ministry of Home Affairs seeking assistance to recover the dues of sugarcane farmers.
“We still hope that the sugar mills will clear dues of farmers within the stipulated time. If they fail to pay, administrative action will be taken against them,” he said.
Reliance Sugar Mill, Himalaya Sugar Mill, and Mahakali Sugar Enterprises have cleared the dues of farmers.
Likewise, Everest Sugar and Chemical Industries had cleared all its dues of Rs. 73.9 million.
Of the subsidy allotted to the sugarcane farmers by the government, only Rs. 232.4 million has reached the sugarcane farmers by January 19, said Dr. Hari Bahadur KC, spokesman at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.
The sugarcane farmers have not reached the concerned offices to claim the subsidy amount with the required documents even though the government had released the amount to the District Treasury Controller Offices, he said.
The government had dispatched Rs. 920 million out of Rs. 1.33 billion one and a half months ago, he said.
KC urged the sugarcane farmers to visit the concerned authorities to receive the subsidy provided by the government.