Punjab: Commission agents threaten to lock mandis tomorrow

Six days since the paddy procurement season began, commission agents across the state have refused to make purchases till their demands are met. They have threatened to lock all mandis on Tuesday.

Till date, 71,279 tonne paddy has arrived in various mandis across the state and only 14,394 tonne has been purchased so far. This means around 80 per cent paddy lies unsold in various mandis.

In 11 district of the state, there has been no purchase of paddy till date. The paddy purchase so far this year is 97 per cent less than what it was during the corresponding period in 2023.

Of the 12,994 tonne paddy that arrived in the mandis on Sunday, only 2,188 tonne was purchased. Most of the purchase took place in Amritsar district only, though small quantities were also purchased in Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Mohali. While 85 tonne paddy has been purchased by private traders, the remaining 2,102 tonne, shown as government purchase, was the paddy bought by cooperative societies, said commission agents, who have been on protest since the beginning of the season on October 1.

The data available with The Tribune show that in the wake of the ongoing strike by commission agents (arhtiyas), private traders have purchased 7,846 tonne paddy, which is 1,298 tonne more than the government purchase of 6,548 tonne. Arhtiyas said most of the paddy purchase for government took place on September 30, a day before the procurement season officially began. “This was done in Patiala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Kapurthala and Mohali,” said Ravinder Singh Cheema, president of the Arhtiya Association, 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. “We are also demanding that the labour charges for filling bags be made equivalent to the charges given in Haryana (Rs 12 per bag of 37.5 kg), besides releasing the cut in our dues, made on account of EPF, a few years ago. Till our demands are met, we will continue with our strike. On Tuesday, we propose to lock the mandis and hand over the keys of all commission agent offices to mandi officials, so that these were forwarded to CM Bhagwant Mann,” he said. Secretary, Food and Supplies, Vikas Garg said, “We are already in talks with the commission agents and the issue will be resolved soon.”