Bathinda/Amritsar: Arhtiyas (commission agents) have announced a strike at the start of wheat procurement season in Punjab from Wednesday over their demand for commission at 2.5% of the minimum support price (MSP) of the crop.While the Union ministry of consumer affairs on March 16 raised the commission from Rs 46 to Rs 50.75 per quintal for wheat, the agents have dismissed the hike as insufficient. Under the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets (APMC) Act, 1961, the commission is fixed at 2.5% of the total produce value, said the arhtiyas, who calculated their demand to Rs 64.62 per quintal based on MSP of Rs 2,585 per quintal. Arhtiyas estimated that they were bound to lose Rs 170 crore as 122 lakh tonnes of wheat is expected to be procured in the state. Vijay Kalra, president, Federation of Arhtiya Association of Punjab, told TOI, “Our commission has been frozen at Rs 46 per quintal since 2018-19. Recently, the Centre only marginally increased it after eight years. This is still much below the 2.5% fixed under the APMC Act. The MSP of crops has increased considerably since 2018-19, so have salaries of officials; but our commission remains stagnant.” Punjab food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said talks are ongoing with the arhtiyas to cooperate in wheat procurement, for which the state has received a cash credit limit of Rs 30,973 crore for April. The state has notified 1,897 procurement centres, apart from proposals for a further 266 temporary yards received from district-level procurement committees. Amandeep Singh Chhina, president, Arhtiya Association, Bhagwanwala grain market, said the agents are demanding restoration of the earlier commission structure of 2.5% in place till 2020. “At 2.5%, we should be earning around Rs 65 per quintal, but we are being paid much less,” he added. Another commission agent said the disparity was more glaring as private procurement, especially of paddy, still offers a 2.5% commission. “With assembly elections less than a year away, the govt cannot afford to ignore our demands,” he said. According to Chhina, nearly 45,000 agents across Punjab are expected to participate in the strike. The move is likely to disrupt procurement operations and cause hardship to both farmers and state machinery. Amritsar’s grain market alone handles 10 to 12 lakh bags during the season, while nine other major mandis operate across the district, in addition to several procurement centres. Wheat arrivals are set to begin from April 13 in Amritsar, while in Patiala, the crop starts reaching markets as early as April 3-4. MSID:: 129922507 413 |
