The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : APMC yards stay shut in protest against move to amend Act

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Saturday, Jan 06, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

APMC yards stay shut in protest against move to amend Act

Special Correspondent

`Changes in law not in the interests of farmers, traders, consumers'

IN PROTEST: FKCCI and APMC members staging a protest in Bangalore on Friday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Bangalore: Various agricultural produce trading organisations, under the banner of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KKCCI), staged a demonstration in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue here on Friday in protest against the proposed amendments to the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMC) Act (1966). APMC yards in the State stayed shut as a mark of protest, which was supported by farmers groups such as Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha (KPRS).

FKCCI president R.C. Purohit said that the proposed amendments were against the interests of farmers, traders and consumers. They were being ushered in to help multinational companies (MNCs) establish themselves in retail trade in India, he said. It would lead to food crisis and deprive lakhs of people of jobs in APMCs, he added. While the original APMC Act restricted trade in agricultural produce to notified areas, the amendments would allow purchase and trading anywhere, thereby "destroying the existing infrastructure and value chain," said Mr. Purohit.

Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, president of the Bangalore Wholesale Foodgrain and Pulse Merchants Association, pointed out that farmers had never sought these amendments, which were being projected as farmer-friendly. This was an effort to allow monopoly trade in the name of farmers, he added. "The Government is dismantling the trading system in phases in the interest of MNCs," alleged Shiraz Pasha, co-chairman of the Food Processing Committee of the FKCCI. The Government had shifted the fruit market outside the city limits in Bangalore to decongest the city. But it was welcoming MNCs to trade in the heart of the city, he said.

Bharat Kumar Shah, chairman of the Association Coordination Committee of the FKCCI, said that the Government had not initiated a dialogue with stakeholders on the issue. Talking about how the amendments would lead to food crisis, he pointed out that there had been a shortage of wheat in the country immediately after the Government allowed MNCs to purchase wheat in 2005-2006. "It will lead to a situation where we will have rocket technology but no food to eat," said Mr. Shah.

Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha State unit president B.C. Bayya Reddy said that the amendments would harm farmers by throwing agricultural trading outside the purview of government control. "We need reforms in the existing APMC system. But that will not happen by weakening the system and throwing it open to foreign companies," he said. A "particularly harmful" part of the amendments was its stress on contract farming, said Mr. Reddy. This, he said, would "eliminate small farmers" and lead to concentration of land with a few rich farmers. This would lead to a crop pattern guided by the global market rather than the food needs of the country, he added.

Criticised

Bangalore Staff Reporter writes:

The Raitha Krishi Karmikara Sanghatane has criticised the proposed amendments saying that they would eventually render farmers destitute. In a release, the sanghatane has said that though there were some loopholes in the existing APMC set-up, the Government had control over them. With the amendments, this would be lost and the entry of the MNCs would ruin the lives of farmers. While the Seed Act 2004 was the first step of offering the sources of agriculture production to the big companies, these amendments would allow the big companies to take control of the sales and distribution channels, it said.

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