Disconsolate plight of poultry farmers: Struggle committee to intensify protests

Reporters Club Event: The National Poultry Farmers Struggle Committee Nepal has expressed, that they have been compelled to protest due to unattentiveness toward their needs for the past three decades.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the committee at the Reporters Club earlier today, the team felt the absence of laws for securing their rights.  The committee has been protesting against the grain and hatchery unions and their arbitrary working style.

The unions have formed a syndicate to control and fix prices which have become a burden for the farmers as they are denied a fair share. The committee’s core demand is to abolish such a system run by a price-fixing syndicate.

It has also called for the government to intervene and check the quality of the chicks and grains that are being provided in the poultry. They have also demanded fair participation and involvement of poultry farmers in the grain and hatchery union.

The committee has also urged for a minimum price to be listed, and that it should be determined not by the market price, but scientifically that would provide due compensation to the farmers.

They have demanded an end to the syndicate that has been fixing prices arbitrarily that has not been of any help to the farmers, likewise, they have also called for the involvement of the farmers to determine fair pricing of poultry in the market.

Coordinator of the struggle committee Bishnu Khadda said that the union of the grain industry and the hatchery have always excessively acted upon in a dictatorial manner and that the farmers now need due compensation.

He has also requested the people to heed to their legitimate demands as the farmers are suffering and that the struggle will continue with more power if not met with a favorable response.

Coordinator of the struggle committee Khadka also said that “for 3-4 decades we have been suffering at the hands of various syndicates, we are the ones to provide the grains and chicks, but the one who rears the hen ultimately makes all the profit, how is this system fair.

We are an agricultural country and we cannot be unjust toward the farmer. The one’s livings in big palatial houses are making the decisions while we are suffering”.

“The top 20% of the people are making the decisions for the other 80%, there is a mafia rule, and we farmers are now going to protest against this unruly injustice. Our protest will be for the farmers and through this press interaction program we want to make everyone aware of what is happening”.

The struggle committee also requested small scale business owners and farmers alike to join their protest. “We want to see the end of the syndicate and price-fixing system by the various unions and we demand that we receive fair compensation. The price of the poultry should not be arbitrarily decided but per the benefit of the poultry farmer”.

The current price is fixed without keeping the cost of the farmer which puts him at a big disadvantage. “A chick is sold for Nepalese Rupees (NRs) 80 which is bought at NRs 30, the grains are bought for NRs 2500 and sold for NRs 3500, and the meat which is sold for NRs 230 should be sold at NRs 180. The mafia syndicate is getting rich, not us. We need a scientific method to calculate costs. We will not take this lightly and if our demands are not met then the outcome will be disastrous in the future he warned”.

In this program, the National Poultry Farming Struggle Committee member Susmita Karki read the press release while another member Dipak Bastakoti conducted the program.