The Wholesale Grains and Seeds Merchants Association has urged the State government to reduce mandi cess to 0.35 per cent. At present, APMCs charge a cess of 1% of the trade value in Maharashtra.
Secretary of the wholesalers’ body, Pratap Motwani said, mandi cess is one of the major reasons for prices going upwards. On Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh government reduced the ''mandi cess'' from 1.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent, a decision that would not only benefit hundreds of traders but would also bring down prices of staple food. Similarly, Karnataka government too has reduced the mandi cess to 0.35 percent. Now, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in Maharashtra too should draw inspiration from MP and Karnataka governments and reduce mandi cess.
“Traders are already reeling under losses due to Covid-19 pandemic. Customers too are bearing the brunt of inflation. In such a scenario it is necessary to reduce the mandi cess as early as possible. This would change the sentiment in the mark ahead of the festive season,” he said.
Motwani said, demand to scrap mandi cess is not new. In August traders at the agriculture produce market committee (APMC)’s yard in Kalamna had observed day-long bandh across State to protest against 1.05 percent mandi cess imposed on purchases. The bandh received huge response in Nagpur too and all the traders at the APMC kept their shutters down.
“I have urged chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and agriculture minister to reduce mandi cess in the State to 0.35 percent. We are also mulling to launch a stir on the lines of wholesalers in Madhya Pradesh to press for our demands,” he said.