Mandis plan stir at July-end

NEW DELHI: All wholesale markets in Delhi under the agriculture produce marketing committee are planning a complete closure of mandis at July-end to protest against the government's decision to denotify fruits and vegetables under the APMC Act, 1998.
If the government goes through with its plans, it will do away with commission agents, and farmers will be free to sell their produce directly to consumers.A notification to this effect was issued on June 19 and feedback can be provided till August 4.
"Mandi representatives are meeting regularly to chart out a course of action. Azadpur, Keshopur, Okhla and Ghazipur are working together through their 43 associations. A strike is inevitable and the details are being worked out. The commission agents also have the farmers' support," says a source.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley had addressed a high-level meeting of ministers and secretaries in June where he instructed states to delist fruits and vegetables from the APMCs to control food inflation. A day later, Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung announced the government's decision to regulate the market under Section 3 of the Delhi Agriculture Produce Marketing (regulation) Act, 1998. Another order was issued in July to immediately deregulate onions and potatoes.
However, commission agents, who will be directly affected, blame the government for the rising costs of food items in Delhi, and warn of utter chaos if the proposal is implemented. "Till January, we could charge up to 6% as commission. The government asked us to shift this charge from the farmer to the buyer and added a 1% market fee. This amount is being passed on to the consumer. In any case, Delhi doesn't produce onions and potatoes and contributes a miniscule percentage of other vegetables. What is the government trying to control?" says an agent.
Sources say Azadpur Mandi alone records annual sales of Rs 7,000-7,500 crore and has close to 2,200 commission agents. "How can the farmers manage a business of this scale? Both farmers and traders come to the market and sell through the commission agent. Farmers usually come early in the morning and leave by afternoon. They are paid as and when their goods are sold. Without agents, will farmers be expected to sit in the mandi all through the day? Furthermore, how will they learn about pricing, the national market conditions, etc. Where will they sit? People are not going to visit mandis every day," said Mahender Sanpal, a member of APMC.
Delhi consumes about 800-900 tonnes of onion daily while around 300 tonnes is sold to other states. Agents say this business too will be affected as a single farmer will not have sufficient stocks for a trader and instead of dealing with multiple people, the wholesale market will shift to another state and cost Delhi massive business.
Government sources say these issues will be considered before taking a decision. They, however, acknowledge that this will not be easy.