Beopar mandal, APMC spar over market committee fee

Our Correspondent

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Nurpur, July 4

The Damtal Beopar Mandal, Kangra, and the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) are at loggerheads over annual licence renewal for wholesale trading and a one per cent market committee fee to the latter.

In a statement issued here, mandal president Raj Kumar Gupta said,”After the enactment of the three farm laws and a new GST structure, the collection of market committee fee is not justified. None of the neighbouring states is charging this fee, but the state government is forcing us to deposit the same.”

Gupta said a delegation of the beopor mandal had met Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in Shimla last month, who had assured it of not charging any fee from traders.

He said although the state government had stopped collecting market committee fee in June last year after the enactment of the new farm laws, the APMC, Kangra, had again started asking for the fee.

Sumesh Sharma, state president of the beopar mandal, has requested the Chief Minister to direct the State Agriculture Marketing Board (SAMB) to stop fee collection.

However, Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, secretary of the APMC, Kangra, said the enactment of the farm laws had been put on hold by the Government of India and the SAMB Act-2005 was in force in the state.

“As per the provisions of the Act, traders are supposed to renew their annual trading licences and pay one per cent market committee fee to the APMC. The violators of the Act will be penalised,” he said.

He said other wholesale grain dealers were paying the fee to district APMCs. Licence holders were to pay one per cent while non-licence holders were supposed to pay a five per cent committee fee to the APMC.