HUBLI: It looks as if Karnataka is in a poll mode.

The elections to the gram panchayats have just been over and the stage is set for elections to the Agricultural Produce Market Committees.

It will soon be followed by elections of the taluk panchayats and the zilla panchayats.

It is not that the N. Dharam Singh Government is keen on elections, but it has been pitch forked into a situation where it could afford ill afford to say no.

The State Government was unwilling to hold the gram panchayat elections, but a pep talk by the Congress High Command and the determination of the State Election Commission to adhere to the Constitutional norms foreclosed the thought of poll postponement once and for all.

The elections to the APMCs which will be held in May, with the process of filing of nominations starting by the end of this month, however belongs to another category.

The APMCs as agencies designed to get a better deal for the growers who bring the produce to the markets have been under administrators for the past three years, mainly because of the reluctance of the Government to hold elections.

The polls are being held under the express directions of the Karnataka High Court after the Government failed to redeem the assurance given twice earlier.

The composition of the APMCs, which were revamped during the days when the late K.H. Patil held charge of the Ministry concerned in the nineties, have been changed to give an upper hand to the growers.

But the lobby of commission agents and traders, which has better political clout, has seen to it some of the provisions such as payment to the growers through the APMC are not implemented for one reason or the other.

Growers' interests

Every time, the Government postponed the elections and placed the administration of the APMCs in the hands of its officials, the interests of growers has been affected adversely, according to D.R. Patil, Congress MLA and the Chairman of the Committee on Assurances of the Legislative Assembly. Incidentally, Mr. D.R. Patil is known to have introduced many pro-grower reforms during his tenure as chairman of the APMC at Gadag.

The crucial issue involved in the functioning of the APMC is the prompt payment to growers, without any deductions directly or indirectly by the commission agents.

But this hardly happens in any of the APMCs in the State, except in places such as Gadag. The commission agents and the loaders in the APMC get some benefit either in the form of grains or cash much to the chagrin of the growers.

Resistance

The growers who depend on the traders and commission agents for their financial needs are hardly in a position to resist it.

There is lot of resistance from commission agents on the implementation of the amended provisions of the Act for arranging payments through APMCs.

The return of an elected body will, according Mr. D.R. Patil, will bring back the era of the growers again.

According to Mr. Patil only two options are open: either it should be a direct payment on the same day or routing it through the APMCs as the law provides.

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