The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : APMC yards in State remain shut

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Thursday, Aug 02, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

APMC yards in State remain shut

Special Correspondent

Indefinite bandh called to protest against amendments to APMC Act

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Shutdown: The APMC yard at Yeshwantpur in Bangalore was bereft of any activity on Wednesday in view of the Statewide bandh called by various trade organisations to protest against amendments to the APMC Act.

Bangalore: Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yards remained shut throughout Karnataka on Wednesday in protest against the amendments to the APMC Act. This brought transactions in foodgrains, fruits and vegetables to a standstill in all yards, including the main yard in Yeshwantpur in Bangalore.

The indefinite bandh would continue till the Government agreed to holds talks with the traders on the amendments, APMC Action Committee president Subbarama Reddy said. R.C. Lahoti, president of the Bangalore Wholesale Food Grains and Pulses Merchants Association, said while some trading in perishable commodities such as fruits and vegetables was carried out on Wednesday because farmers had already brought their produce to the market, the bandh would be total from Thursday.

The bandh call had been given by several organisations, including those of wholesale and retail agriculture produce traders, farmers and labourers in APMC yards across the State. They contend that the amendments will adversely affect their interests by allowing huge foreign investments at the cost of local trading and farming interests. It will dismantle the existing APMC system by weakening all forms of government control over trading, they argue.

Mr. Lahoti said the Government was only trying to provide a “backdoor entry” to multinational corporations in the “guise of helping farmers” through the amendments. If foreign traders were keen on entering the Indian agricultural market they should be asked to do so by opening shops within the existing APMC yards, he said.

Janata Dal (U) president B. Somashekar, who addressed traders and farmers at the Yeshwantpur yard, said the Government had “hurriedly” passed the amendments without referring it to the Joint Select Committee as it had promised to do. The UPA Government at the Centre and the coalition Government in the State were “hand-in-glove” in passing the “draconian law”, he said.

CPI (M) general secretary G.N. Nagaraj also spoke on the occasion.

All like-minded organisations and political parties have decided to form an umbrella organisation and launch a joint protest against the amendments.

Minister’s appeal

Gulbarga Special Correspondent reports:

Agriculture Marketing Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur on Wednesday appealed to traders and merchants operating in APMC yards to withdraw their indefinite strike and promised that their views would be accommodated at the time of framing rules of the amended APMC Act, which is awaiting Governor T.N. Chaturvedi’s assent.

Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Darshanapur, however, categorically stated that there was no question of withdrawing the amendments to the APMC Act passed by both Houses of the legislature, and except for Janata Dal (U) MLA Madhuswamy and CPI (M) MLA Sriram Reddy no other legislator had opposed the amendments to the APMC Act.

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