In an effort to reintroduce the bill seeking amendments in the Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, the Maharashtra government has started discussions with stakeholders, including farmers’ leaders, traders and mathadi workers (head loaders).
In the first meeting recently conducted by State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, farmers’ leaders and traders reached an agreement on scrapping cess on the produce brought and traded in Agriculture Produce Market Committee (AMPC) mandis and also approved the provision to allow trade in all farm commodities outside APMC wholesale markets.
Backlash
In November 2018, a day after a bill to amend the Act was passed in the State Legislative Assembly, the government withdrew it from the Legislative Council following an indefinite strike called by Mumbai and Pune market committees. The APMC committees had alleged that the proposed amendment severely limited the power of APMCs. The bill had proposed to free essential items from the purview of the APMCs and allow those to be sold outside as well.
Please click here to read more.