The central government’s one of the most ambitious schemes to ensure availability of quality food products through Food Safety and Standard Rules 2011 is facing stiff resistance from the grain merchants. The traders will be launching an agitation from Friday.
Indore grain merchants’ association claimed that the step will only increase corruption. As per the rules, 6 months imprisonment and penalty up to Rs 5 lakh on finding any merchant farming, selling or having the stock of substandard grains.
As per the rules, any merchant found cultivating, selling or having stock of substandard grains will get 6 months imprisonment and will have to pay a penalty up to Rs 5 lakh.
“The rules state that no action will be taken against the farmers, who cultivate the crops of substandard quality. Besides, many times, the quality of crops gets affected due to use of fertilisers, weather and other reasons. However, if the traders/merchants purchase the same crops, they will be punished,” said Indore Grain Merchants’ Association president, Nandkishore Agrawal.
He said that keeping a check on the weather that often has adverse effects on the crops is not pragmatic.
He claimed that if the government wants to implement the rules without any changes then it should first provide such amenities and infrastructure that can help us in following such rules.
The president said that if they will not buy grains from the farmers to avoid action, the farmers will have to suffer huge loss. It will also lead to scarcity of the food grains in the market.
The Merchants Association also raised objection on making it compulsorily to have the license for trade from February 4.
“We had launched a series of protests against these rules in 2012 and had only withdrawn the same on the CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s assurance,” he said. He added that as the government has decided to impose the rules from February 4, we will launch an agitation from Jan 17 by submitting a memorandum to the Mandi secretary and district collector seeking appropriate action.
The merchants will burn an effigy of the Food Safety and Standard Rules, 2011 at the Mandi compound on the next day and will stop buying the foodgrains of substandard quality from Jan 20, if no action is taken in this regard, added the president.
No comments:
Post a Comment