Arhtiyas in Gurugram fruit and vegetable market on strike

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Gurugram, February 10

Arhtiyas (commission agents) in one of the country’s largest fruit and vegetable wholesale markets at Khandsa in Gurugram city went on an indefinite strike today, demanding the rollback of 1 per cent rural development fund (RDF) and 1 per cent market fee levied by the state government on fruits and vegetables.

Though the impact of the strike was not visible on the supply of these essential commodities through the retailers in the Gurugram city on Saturday, the stocks were likely to be affected in the next couple of days, if the strike was not withdrawn by them.

When this correspondent visited the Khandsa market, the wholesale shops and retail were seen closed with hardly any customers seen in the market. They kept their businesses shut throughout the day.

According to information, there are at least 300 wholesale commission agents and 500 retailers engaged in the essential commodities business in the Khandsa market.

Devinder Gupta, a commission agent, said not even a single arhtiya had done business on Saturday. “We are united and will keep the market closed until the state government rolls back the RDF and market fee on essential commodities,” he said.

President of arhtiya union Inderjit Singh Thakran and general secretary Diwakar Sapra said the state government had started collecting 1 per cent market fee and 1 percent RDF fee from the commission agents during the Covid period to mobilise funds.

But, now as the Covid crisis was no more, therefore, the Haryana Government must roll back the collection of the market fee and the RDF to give relief to the consumers. “It will bring down the prices of fruits, vegetables and other essential commodities,” they claimed.

They alleged that the arhtiyas had requested the state government many times to roll back the collection of the market fee and the RDF, but no one had listened to them. “We have been forced to proceed on indefinite strike due to the insensitive attitude of the state government”, they said.

Arhtiyas Deepak Kumar, Monu Saini, Harivansh Maurya, Pandit Jagmal, Ravindra Pandit, Krishna Pal, Kamal Aggarwal, Jagdev Prasad and others said they would intensify their stir in the coming days if their demands were not met by the government.