Commissioned agents claim farm bills as anti-APMC

Aurangabad, Sept 29:
The commissioned agents (local known as Adat Vyaparis) at Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) today claimed that the union government, despite framing the ''One Nation One Tax'' policy, is being biased against the APMCs.

As reported earlier, the Centre had passed three farm bills. The new bill encourages the farmers to sell their agri-produce outside the limits of APMC. It stated that if the sale and purchase of agricultural produce take place within the jurisdiction of APMC, then the farmer would have to pay cess and other charges to APMC, else it should not.

Since the approval of bills, the farmers in India are staging demonstrations and protesting against the farm bills. Now, the disappointment is prevailing amongst commissioned agents, merchants and porters.

The president of Aday Vyapari Sanghatna (AVS), Kanhaiyyalal Jaiswal said,"The APMC cess is Rs 1 per Rs 100, while the maintenance charge is 0.05 paise per Rs 100. The businessmen inside APMC could not compete with business people outside the APMC. The decision is a threat to the existence of APMC and hundreds of personnel including employees of merchants, porters, transporters will get jobless." There should be uniform law,
the trade taking place either inside or outside APMC limits should compel to pay fees to the APMC."

The secretary Suresh Gandhi said, " The government should immediately withdraw the decision and grant aid to strengthen APMC. It should not differentiate or be biased with merchants inside the APMC limits."

Meanwhile, a porter Devidas Kirtishahi stressed that the union government''s move aims at closing APMC. If the decision is not revised the merchants and the porters will jointly launch an agitation, soon."