JALANDHAR
The district consumer disputes redressal forum has penalised Punjab State Seeds Corporation Limited (PSSCL) for providing substandard wheat seeds to a Kapurthala-based farmer.
The forum directed the corporation to pay a compensation of ₹70,000, besides the litigation cost of ₹10,000 to Gurmit Singh within a month.
In his complaint filed in March last year, Gurmit said he purchased wheat seeds from the corporation’s outlet Daudpur village in Kapurthala district on November 2017 and sowed them as per directions and instructions given by the corporation. But the seeds did not germinate properly, leading to low yield. Gurmit said he spent ₹50,000 on sowing seeds and would have earned over ₹1 lakh from his 10 acres land had the seeds germinated properly.
The opposite party contested that the seeds were tested by the designated officials at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, as well as Gurdaspur, which are notified by the Punjab government. The officials went to the spot to attend the complaint and found that the farmer levelled the land after sowing the wheat seeds in a clayey field. In this process, the wheat seeds could not germinate fully. The fault lies with the complainant and not with the seeds, it was contested.
“We like to make it clear that the corporation officials admitted that wheat seeds could not germinate fully,” the forum observed, adding that it has become clear that the corporation did not sell 100% pure quality seeds to the complainant. It found that the complainant suffered mental agony and harassment as well as financial loss for not getting appropriate yield and is entitled for compensation and litigation expenses, the forum observed.
{{/usCountry}}“We like to make it clear that the corporation officials admitted that wheat seeds could not germinate fully,” the forum observed, adding that it has become clear that the corporation did not sell 100% pure quality seeds to the complainant. It found that the complainant suffered mental agony and harassment as well as financial loss for not getting appropriate yield and is entitled for compensation and litigation expenses, the forum observed.
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