Amid a statewide strike by commission agents, the authorities on Monday started wheat procurement at 414 purchase centres in Haryana, including 23 in Karnal. Officials said that on Day 1, there was negligible arrival of wheat at the mandis with no farmer bringing crop to sell at the centres in Karnal district.
To ensure smooth procurement operations during the wheat harvesting season, the directorate of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs has set up more than half of the purchase centres in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Jind and Kaithal districts.
The Union government has already fixed the Maximum Support Price (MSP) for wheat at ₹2,275 per quintal.
However, the commission agents under the banner of the Haryana State Anaj Mandi Arhtiyas Association observed a strike for two hours in protest against the reduced commission and other issues.
Rajneesh Chaudhary, chairman of the body, said that the agents across 130 mandis in the state will observe the strike from 11 am to 1 pm till April 5 outside the office of market committees in their respective districts.
“Instead of increasing the commission after two-three decades, the government has rather reduced it, which has caused a loss of ₹3 lakh to every agent. We were being paid ₹57 per quintals, which is down to ₹46. Moreover, the government has announced to ban the crop arrival from bordering Uttar Pradesh. This not only harms us, but also the government in terms of revenue,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Instead of increasing the commission after two-three decades, the government has rather reduced it, which has caused a loss of ₹3 lakh to every agent. We were being paid ₹57 per quintals, which is down to ₹46. Moreover, the government has announced to ban the crop arrival from bordering Uttar Pradesh. This not only harms us, but also the government in terms of revenue,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Anubhav Mehta, Karnal SDM, also conducted a meeting with the officials of procurement agencies to ensure that all the facilities are at place at the purchasing centres.
“There were some issues involving the facilities and officials concerned have been asked to ensure a solution. There was no meeting particularly with the commission agents on their strike,” the SDM told the HT.
Meanwhile, the senior-vice president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Anurag Dhanda hit out at the state government for not providing enough facilities at the mandis.
Dhanda alleged, “The government is yet to start tender process for weighing and lifting of the purchased crop at the mandis. There are no streetlights or water cooler in Panipat, while the markets in Kaithal have not been cleaned. The commission agents are on strike that will surely hamper the purchase.”