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Kathmandu Friday March 30, 2001 Chaitra 17, 2057.
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Paddy price increased after army mobilization
Farmers feel relieved
Post Report
BIRGUNJ, March 29 -The government’s recent decision to deploy army
personnel at country’s major entry points has come a source of delight to the local
farmers with the price of paddy soaring by Rs 100 per quintal from its record of low price
few weeks ago.
After the army personnel began patrolling the cross-border smuggling at the
Birgunj Customs from March 14, the unrestricted entry of Indian paddy has stopped to a
greater extent and benefited the farmers who rely heavily on paddy cultivation.
The price of paddy at the main Ranighat Bazar of Birgunj in mid-March was
around Rs 700 to 725 per quintal and now has soared to Rs 810.
The price of paddy had nose-dived after the unrestricted entry of Indian
paddy in the Nepali market for some months now and farmers say the present price is equal
to that 10 years ago.
The price of one quintal paddy in February last year was around Rs 800 to 900
and in March around Rs 1,100 to 1,200. And wihout the army mobilization, it would have
hardly reached Rs 800.
According to Nitendra Shah, a paddy merchant, the hike in local paddy price
is due to the strict monitoring of the border by the army. "Indian paddy used to come
without customs duty now with the levy of customs duty the price has increased," says
Mahesh Mahato, a local farmer of Lalparsa VDC of Parsa district. "Army have become
like God for us."
According a local rice-mill owner Satish Singh, the army have asked all local
customers to check Customs bills before buying paddy and warned of taking actions against
individual defying the rules.
A 6.5 per cent charge, including 5 per cent service charge and 1.5 per cent
local development charge has to be paid for importing Indian paddy said officials at
Birgunj Customs.
The army mobilization has enforced everyone to pay customs charges, says
Shyam Khadka, chief of Birgunj Customs.
However, he couldn’t give the details of increased revenue collections
at more than 11 customs posts in the vicinity of Birgunj area, saying it would take some
time to calculate the difference in revenue collection after the army mobilization.
The production price of paddy is low in India as the government of India
provides subsidy on fertilizer, seeds, irrigation and the interest of agricultural loan.
This facility on the neighboring country has affected the competitive strength of the
Nepali farmers who do not enjoy such facilities.
Despite the army deployment mal-practices at the Customs has not stopped.
Customs sources say that the nexus between the importers and some officials at the Customs
still causes the revenue to be only one third of the total transaction.
A tractor carries five to six tons of paddy and the market price for this is
from Rs 40,000 to 48,000, the source says. "The customs duty for this will be around
Rs 2,600 but any tractor hardly pays a thousand rupees," the source adds.
Though the latest measure has assured the legal entry, the amount of paddy
flow from India has not decreased, says Satish Singh and Asok Jaiswal, the paddy
merchants. If the army starts looking into the cheating at Customs, the revenue will rise
and so will the paddy price, says the source.
The paddy price nose-dive has caused an increase in the number of school
dropouts, as the farmers were unable to pay the school fees. The latest increase in price
has a margin of around Rs 200 to that of total production cost, says a local
farmer."This increment has given us life," he adds.
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