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The government has decided to provide cash relief of up to 65 percent of the production cost to farmers whose crops were completely damaged by unseasonal rains earlier this year.

The government made the announcement as per the new guidelines to provide relief to farmers. The guidelines, which were approved by the Council of Ministers on November 18, mention that a farmer shall not get more than Rs 55,000 in relief.

The government has allocated relief for farmers by categorizing them into small, medium, and big categories based on their landholding. While providing relief, the amount will be calculated based on the minimum support price of paddy.

According to the guidelines, small farmers who have suffered a complete loss will get relief up to 65 percent of the production cost. The government is ready to provide 30 percent relief to affected medium-scale farmers and up to 20 percent for big farmers. Likewise, the government will provide relief up to 20 percent of the production cost to large, medium, or small farmers whose paddy crop has been partially damaged.

Under the guidelines, farmers with more than three bighas (five acres) of land have been classified as big farmers. Farmers who cultivate other people’s land equal to the same area are also included in the category. Medium farmers are those who have more than 10 katthas (0.83 acres) and up to three bighas of land and cultivate on the same land. A farmer who cultivates up to 10 katthas (0.83 acres) of land has been classified as a small farmer.

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In the case of joint cultivation, the guidelines mention, the relief amount will be calculated treating the whole group as one. This facility will not be available for farmers using encroached land, and those who have already received relief from other agencies, including insurance companies.

Before providing relief as per the guidelines, the local government shall collate data of the damage caused to the paddy crop due to unseasonal rains based on information collected by the District Administration Office, District Police Office, and other agencies. The ward office shall then publish a notice for affected farmers to provide documentary evidence to support their claims.

In case of failure to submit the documents, the farmer should submit the recommendation of the ward office endorsed by a ward member and three neighbor farmers. Along with the evidence, a copy of the farmer’s citizenship, and bank account details should also be submitted.

Based on the details provided, the government will deposit the relief amount in the bank account of the concerned farmer.

According to the guidelines, a three-member monitoring committee will be formed under the coordination of the head of the district coordination committee to monitor the distribution of relief.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, 325,258 metric tonnes of paddy worth Rs 8.268 billion have been destroyed due to unseasonal rains earlier this year. The ministry states that the paddy crop planted in an area of ​​85,580 hectares has been completely damaged. Paddy plantation on ​​285,076 hectares was partially damaged.

The Triangle Conference, an initiative of The Annapurna Express, concluded on a positive note with stakeholders from the government, academia, and economy pledging to collaborate.

During the seven sessions spread over three days, politicians, bureaucrats, academics, private sector representatives, student leaders and other representatives from the three sectors also discussed the gaps in inter-sector communication, their future vision for Nepal, entrepreneurship, leadership, and policy issues. 

“Hearing our role models talk about leadership and nation-building gives us immense motivation,” says journalist Sunita Karki, who attended the conference.

Day I

The first session on national capabilities and necessities had panelists discuss the situation of academia and its link with economic development. The session, moderated by Jagannath Lamichhane, saw the participation of Kewal Bhandari, Secretary, the National Planning Commission. “It is the job of the government to bring out policies to promote the private sector and we are doing that,” said Bhandari. Panelist Sunaina Ghimire Pandey, managing director of General Technology Pvt Ltd, asked the government to establish an exclusive university for the IT sector.

Saurav Karkee, an IT student who attended the conference, agreed with Pandey. “The present and future of the nation depend on IT, so policies must revolve around this sector.”

Also read: The Triangle Conference: Righting the government-academia-business mismatch 

The second session discussed the post-pandemic mental health of youths and the workforce population. Panelists discussed how youths can develop a positive mentality and contribute to the national economy.Hosted by Shreeya Giri, founder of Happy Minds, guests in the session shared their pandemic-related experiences. Comedian Manoj Gajurel, who was infected with Covid-19, said it was his positive mental energy that helped him recover. Similarly, Dr Rishav Koirala, psychiatrist at Grande Hospital said, “We need to teach mental health wellness as a subject in school.” Gajurel further added, “Parents should be aware before making their children aware of mental health wellness.”

The last session of the first day was conducted by Chief Editor of AP1 HD television, Tikaram Yatri. It discussed the role of leadership in nation-building. Dr Sanduk Ruit, senior eye surgeon, said ‘integrity’ was the key thing he expects from his team. “Without a synergy between the team and the leader, development is not possible as the two complement each other,” Kulman Ghising, managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority, said, while agreeing with Ruit.

Day II

The second day started with a panel discussion on the gaps between the needs and expectations of the government, economy, and academia. The session was moderated by ApEx Editor-in-Chief Biswas Baral. During the session, Sohan Sha, a researcher at Martin Chautari accused Tribhuvan University of failing the system and the country. Kusum Shakya, another participant, said, “Political and economic revolution must go hand in hand.”

Bhim Prasad Subedi, chairman of the University Grants Commission, highlighted the need for political consensus to improve the education system.

Also read: The Triangle Conference: Let’s discuss the future of Nepal 

“This session helped me a lot because it talked about the mess that our public universities are in,” says Parbati Dahal, a secondary-level teacher. “I learned that those who should be leading the country are instead taking it backwards.”

As elections are round the corner, ApEx also organized a session on political parties and electoral governance. ApEx Assistant Editor Kamal Dev Bhattarai moderated the panel discussion which had veteran journalist Yogesh Dhakal asking for the source of funds for CPN-UML’s Rs 15 million-general convention. Similarly, Neel Kantha Uprety, former chief election commissioner, said, “Political parties buy their way to power through elections.”

In the same session, Bimala Rai Poudel, a member of the National Assembly, defended lawmakers who won elections under the proportional system. She said, “Not all those elected through PR are corrupt and incompetent.”

Day III

The last day of the conference focused on leadership and the workforce.

The first session moderated by ApEx journalist Pratik Ghimire saw Anjana Bishankhe, member of parliament from CPN (Maoist Center), quote Mao’s definition of leadership. She said, “Leaders are those who are creative and farsighted but they also work with the public.” Devendra Pokharel, founder of Cocina Mitho Chha, asked leaders in all sectors to set examples. Similarly, Dr Tshering Lama of Idea Studio Nepal said, “There is a huge gulf between the confidence and competence in our leaders.”

Also read: AMN launches ‘Unity for Sustainability’ campaign 

The second session, moderated by ApEx Assistant Editor Kamal Dev Bhattarai was named ‘Workforce 2025’. There, the panelists talked about the traits, ideas, characteristics, competencies, concepts of the workforce Nepal needs by 2025.

Dr Jeevan Baniya, a researcher in the same sector, said 84 percent of Nepali workforce are engaged in the informal economy. While Anil Muni Bajracharya said, “We lack demand-side education and also, vocational jobs are highly undervalued in Nepal.”

Pradyumna Raj Pandey, under-secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said, “This kind of program will help all concerned parties to communicate with one another. I wish there would be more representation from the government sector in the days to come as they are the key to change.”

With the end of the festive season, the Nepali cinema industry is witnessing a slew of new releases, mostly of the movies that had for long been postponed. The producers of ‘Kathaputali’, one of the most anticipated horror movies, have now announced their movie’s release date: 1 January 2022.

Movies are often released on Fridays but this time the Kathaputali team has settled on a Thursday as it is a national holiday because of Tamhu Loshar.

Written by Sampada Malla and directed by Bhimsen Lama, it features Gauri Malla, Mithila Sharma, Karma, Shilpa Mashke, Usha Rajak, Suvarna Thapa, and others.

The movie has already received awards at various international film festivals. It recently won two awards at the Winter Film Awards in the United States.

The entire post-production work of the film took place in London.

The Triangle Conference initiated by The Annapurna Express, the sister publication of Annapurna Media Network, kicked off on Monday at Hyatt Place, Kathmandu.

‘The Triangle Conference: Let’s discuss the future of Nepal’ (November 25-27) is a platform initiated by The Annapurna Express to get these stakeholders talking and hasing out their differences so that they can work in mutually beneficial ways.

During the seven sessions spread over three days, politicians, bureaucrats, academics, private sector representatives, student leaders and other representatives from the three sectors will discuss the gaps in their communication, their future vision for Nepal, entrepreneurship, leadership, and policy issues. 

Chairman of AMN and today’s chief guest, Capt. Rameshor Thapa said, “Our media house wants to keep this debate going so that we can find solutions to outstanding problems.”