Ilam. Suryodaya Municipality has decided to withdraw the minimum support price (MSP) of tea. As per the Standard Tea Production Guideline Implementation Work Procedure, the tea industry was required to pay Rs 40 per kg to the tea farmers and the farmers were required to harvest only 40 per cent of the tea produce.

Acting Mayor of the municipality Durga Kumar Baral said that the Act was amended in the third meeting of the 18th municipal assembly of the municipality after most of the farmers and industrialists demanded the open market. Mayor Baral said the assembly amended seven various acts that would cause hassles and inconvenience to the citizens.

“The bills endorsed are the appropriation act 2082, finance act 2082, basic and secondary education act 2076, health act 2078, vehicle and transport management act 2076, town police act 2076 and cooperative act 2075 amended”, said mayor Baral.

There are 63 small and big tea factories in the municipality area. The local government has decided to request the federal government to fix minimum support price of tea. “We have to pay attention from planting tea to picking and participation. ”

The municipality had sought suggestions from farmers and industrialists from all 14 wards to resolve the problems of tea sector. Likewise, the municipality had sought suggestions from the locals online for amending the Tea Act. A tea branch is to be operated here to solve the problems of tea sector. The municipality has amended the Basic and Secondary Education Act-2076 BS and made provision to operate it as per the federal law. The operation of three-wheelers has been eased by amending the Vehicle and Transport Management Act-2076. Likewise, the Cooperative Act-2075 BS has also been amended to implement the federal law, said local government spokesperson Khyam Bhujel.

“The municipal assembly decided to write to the federal government to bring the tea estate under the Nepal Tea Development Corporation, which has been leased out by the government for 50 years, to carry out quality works beyond the width of the road and to replace wooden poles,” said Chief Administrative Officer Bigyan Koirala.

“The municipality has allocated Rs 200,000 each to all 14 wards of the municipality for the repair of roads damaged by last year’s disaster,” he said. Ward 5 chair Urgen Bomjan said the municipality is going to construct a modern waste management centre at the cost of Rs 220 million from Swiss government, provincial and local governments. According to him, the municipality has decided to request the federal government to revise the provision related to the gains tax levied on the sale of land and the setback of the highway.

Chief Administrative Officer Koirala said works are underway to reduce arrears to zero by making the municipality transparent. Yognidhi Bhattarai, information officer of the municipality, said that transparency has been maintained by broadcasting important programs of the municipality live.