Punjab: Commission agents threaten to close mandis tomorrow

Punjab: Even six days after the paddy procurement season began, commission agents across the state have refused to make purchases until their demands are met. They have threatened to shut down all mandis on Tuesday. So far, 71,279 tonnes of paddy has arrived in various mandis across the state and only 14,394 tonnes have been procured so far. This means that about 80 per cent of the paddy is lying unsold in various mandis. There has been no paddy procurement so far in 11 districts of the state. Paddy procurement so far this year is 97 per cent less than the corresponding period of 2023. Out of the 12,994 tonnes of paddy that arrived in the mandis on Sunday, only 2,188 tonnes could be procured. Most of the procurement took place in Amritsar district itself, although small quantities were also procured in Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Mohali. While 85 tonnes of paddy has been bought by private traders, the remaining 2,102 tonnes, shown as government procurement, is paddy bought by cooperative societies, said commission agents, who have been protesting since the beginning of the season on October 1. Data available with The Tribune shows that in view of the ongoing strike by commission agents (arhtiyas), private traders have bought 7,846 tonnes of paddy, which is 1,298 tonnes more than the 6,548 tonnes procured by the government. Arhtiyas said most of the paddy procurement for the government took place on September 30, a day before the procurement season officially began. “It was done in Patiala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Kapurthala and Mohali,” said Ravinder Singh Cheema, president of the Arhtiya Association of Punjab.

Cheema said their main demand was the restoration of their commission at 2.5 per cent of the minimum support price, which was fixed at Rs 46 per quintal a few years ago. He said, “We are also demanding that the wage charges for filling the sacks be made equal to the charges given in Haryana (Rs 12 for each sack of 37.5 kg), as well as the release of the deduction made in our dues a few years ago on account of EPF. We will continue our strike until our demands are met. On Tuesday, we propose to close the mandis and hand over the keys of all commission agent offices to the mandi officials, so that these can be delivered to CM Bhagwant Mann.” Food and Supplies Secretary Vikas Garg said, “We are already in talks with the commission agents and the issue will be resolved soon.”