DDC is credited with Rs. 600 million to pay dairy producers.

The government has given the state-owned dairy Rs600 million in credit to pay the farmers, whose bills have been accumulating for months, as the country gets ready for its largest celebration.

Dairy producers, meanwhile, are pessimistic that they will receive payment before to Dashain.

The 10-day celebration starts on Thursday with Ghatasthapana.

The Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) received the Rs600 million loan from the Public Debt Management Office on Friday.

"Today [Friday], we got the confirmation from the Public Debt Management Office." The DDC's general manager, Surya Prasad Paudel, stated, "We will now talk with the board of directors about the method of payment to the farmers and make a decision appropriately.
"The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development will be notified as soon as we make the decision," he declared.

Since taking office on July 15, Agriculture Minister Ram Nath Adhikari has stated on numerous occasions that farmers will receive their payments prior to Dashain.

According to Paudel, there are now two options: either transfer funds directly to dairy farmers' accounts with the cooperative's assistance, or have the DDC transmit the funds to cooperatives for payment. "We're not sure yet."

However, many involved in the dairy industry claim there is little possibility that farmers will get paid before Dashain.

"The DDC will still have about Rs2 billion in arrears even after paying farmers Rs600 million," stated Ganesh Chandra Timilsina, coordinator of the National Peasants' Coalition, a union of farmers.

Timilsina stated that although about half of the debt has been settled, the private dairy still owed the dairy farmers approximately Rs. 6 billion.

According to him, private dairies have just begun to settle the farmers' payments on a weekly basis.

Timilsina stated, "We plan to knock on the Prime Minister's Office door, asking the PM to clear farmers' dues before Dashain, as farmers are in trouble and need money to celebrate the festivals."

The government has also been asked by the private dairy business to grant loans so that the farmers can be paid.

As collateral, we have offered our supplies of butter and powdered milk to the government for loans," stated Prahlad Dahal, president of the Nepal Dairy Association. But our appeal was disregarded by the administration.
He declared, "This is discrimination." "We operate in the same industry, but the DDC is the only one eligible for loans. This demonstrates how the public sector is seen by the government.

He declared, "The government has a duty to rescue the private dairies, as they are also a major issue."

According to Dahal, the private dairies have Rs4.5 billion worth of butter and powdered milk in store.

If the government does not lend money to private dairy companies, it will be difficult for them to compensate farmers.

The organization claims that the private dairy owes the farmers around Rs. 2 billion.
According to the group, the DDC holds about 25% of the 3.2 million litres of milk that are brought to the market each day, with private dairies purchasing the remainder.

The private dairies spend about Rs 100 million a day on purchases.

Three dairy associations—Central Dairy Cooperative Association, Nepal Dairy Association, and Dairy Industry Association—as well as the government-owned Dairy Development Corporation signed an agreement on March 4th, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, to settle the farmers' dues by April 3rd.

The agreement stated that payments were to be made by April 3 to farmers who had not received them since August of last year until mid-January.

However, the assurances were not kept.

Since they haven't gotten any payments in almost a year, the majority of farmers in eastern Tarai are dealing with even more challenges.

The dairy group claims that the farmers in Biratnagar [Morang] and Jhapa have not received their payments in months. Chitwan's farmers are facing difficulties as well.

State-owned and privately held dairy farms have been reporting that the prolonged economic downturn has reduced demand for their products, stopping cash flow and increasing farmer liabilities due to unsold goods that have been sitting on the market for almost a year.