Welcome to Our newsroom!

Govt bans export of food items  
The government today decided to ban export of food items in a bid to tackle the soaring food prices.
Prices of essential food items have gone drastically up within the past few months. The problem became acute in Nepal after India and Bangladesh cut down the export of rice to Nepal following an international rise in the prices of staple food.
As the government was preoccupied with CA election, it was least bothered about the rising prices of food items until now.
A meeting held at the Ministry of Supplies today decided to ban export of food items. “We are dependent on India for food items. India has stopped exporting to us now. On the other hand, we export wheat flour to Tibet, China and Basmati rice to Bangladesh,” said Gyan Darshan Udhas, a senior official at the ministry of supplies. He said the decision to ban the exports was taken to prevent food crisis in the country.
The price of Basmati rice has gone up by approximately Rs 400 per sack (20 kg) to Rs 1,400 as compared to last year’s price. Similarly, price of mansuli rice has gone up by more than Rs 200 per sack (30 kg) to Rs 800.
Nepal Food Corporation has a practice of buffer-stocking food items, but the officials refused to divulge the details on the amount of food stocked by the corporation. Recently, SAARC made a decision to stock 4,000 metric tonnes of food items.
Though there is no ration scheme for lower income families in Nepal, the government provides transportation subsidies to thirty remote districts.
“Until now, there is no shortage of foodstuff in the market. If the government cannot maintain the stock and the present situation of price hike persists, the consumers might start stocking food,” said Pabitra Bajracharya, president of the Retailers Association.
The price of cooking oil, which almost doubled in the last few months from Rs 90 to Rs 140, has been brought down after bargaining with the wholesalers, said Bajracharya.
Only middle and high-class people can afford to stock foodstuff. Those families relying on daily wages and lower middle class families are going to be hit hard by the price hike as they cannot afford to stock food and spend more than 80 per cent of their income on daily consumption, says Jagannath Adhikary, a food economist.
Urban planner Dr Puskar Pradhan of the Central Department of Geography stressed on the need to develop agriculture infrastructure, as well as develop a modest land use policy, along with the conservation of prime agricultural land and river ecology for a smooth food supply.