BIG BANG REFORM: Madhya Pradesh Amends Mandi Act, Links Farmers To Global Market

BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): To save the farmers from economic problems during the corona crisis, the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that Madhya Pradesh government has made several amendments in the Mandi Act with a view to providing the farmers with the maximum value of their crops.

With its implementation, now farmers will be able to sell their crops to private traders from home, they will not have to go to the market.

Apart from this, they will also continue to have the option of going to the mandi to sell their produce and sell their crop at the support price.

Chief Minister Shri Chouhan was giving information to the farmers of the state about the amendments made in the Mandi Act in Madhya Pradesh through video conferencing today.

Public Health and Family Welfare Minister, Shri Narottam Mishra, Agriculture Minister Shri Kamal Patel, Water Resources Minister Shri Tulsi Silavat, Tribal Welfare Minister Sushri Meena Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Shri K.K. Singh, Principal Secretary Agriculture Shri Ajit Kesri etc were present on the occasion.

The Chief Minister said that now the traders will be able to visit the farmers’ in their houses or buy their crops on the farm by taking a license.

There will be one license for the entire state, traders will be able to buy crops anywhere.

Along with this, we have also implemented the e-trading system under which the rates of mandis all over the country will be available to the farmers. They will be able to bargain and sell their produce in any market of the country where they get higher prices.

Besides the long wait in mandis, farmers had to come across many problems regarding the quality of their produce. After the amendment in the Mandi Act, now farmers can sell their crop to private traders from their homes itself.

it will be easier and more profitable for the farmers to sell their crops. The option to sell produce at the support price in mandis will remain just as it is with the farmers.

After the new alternative system came into existence, a new competition will arise in the trade of agricultural commodities, which will benefit the farmers.

The licensee merchants will now be able to buy the crop from farmers’ homes or farms. With the same license, the merchants will be able to purchase anywhere in the state.

This will eliminate the system of middlemen. For example, if a trader from Bhopal had to buy Arhar Dal from Pipariya, he had to purchase it through a licensee merchant there. With the end of this binding, the farmers, as well as the consumers, will be directly benefitted.

The government has also made arrangement for e-tendering. Under this, the farmers will get the rates of the mandis of the entire country. They will be able to sell their crop in any mandi of the country, where they get higher prices. Fruits and vegetables are already exempted from the Mandi Act in the state.

Sauda Patrak arrangement giving good results

Chief Minister Shri Chouhan informed that this time we have implemented the Sauda Patrak system in the state through which the traders are able to purchase crops from farmers from their homes.

About 80 per cent of the procurement of Mandis has been done through Sauda Patraks and farmers have also received good prices. As the results of this experiment are positive we have made amendments in the Mandi Act.

Two of 9 provisions implemented earlier, 7 have been accepted

Chief Minister Shri Chouhan informed that the Government of India had been given the option of accepting the Agriculture Produce and Livestock Management Act 2017 (IPLM) Model Mandi Act by sending it to the states or amending the prevailing Act.

The High-Level Committee of Chief Ministers constituted for the purpose of preparing the roadmap for implementing the Act, had said in its draft report, that if the states want to make amendments in their existing Mandi Act, they should get at least 7 of the provisions of the IPLM included and amended.

Since two of the provisions of IPLM are already in force in Madhya Pradesh, the other seven provisions have now been implemented in the state through amendments in the Mandi Act.

The two provisions implemented earlier:

The Chief Minister informed that the two provisions of IPLM already implemented in the state are – First, Mandi fee will be charged at the time of purchasing agricultural produce for the first time in the entire state. After this, market fees will not be charged in the subsequent purchase and sale in the entire state.

The second provision is the regulation of the distribution of fruits and vegetables i.e. fruits and vegetables are excluded from the purview of the Mandi Act.

The law has been amended on these seven provisions.

Chief Minister Shri Chouhan informed that now seven new provisions have been included in the Mandi Act. These are:

1. Provision has been made for the establishment of mandis in private sectors
2. Godowns, silo cold storage etc. can also be declared as private mandis
3. Provision has been made for food processors, exporters, wholesale sellers and end-users to directly purchase from the farmers at the village level outside the Mandi
4. Mandi committees will have no interference in the work of private mandis
5. Provision has been made to separate regulatory powers from the Managing Director Mandi Board and give it to Director Marketing.
6. Provision has been made for traders to engage in trade in the entire state with a single license.
7. Provision has been made for training.

from League of India