Sago traders end strike

A meeting was held between traders, and officials

The nine-day-old strike by the Salem Sago and Starch Merchants Association in protest against the action initiated against sago traders on charges of adulteration, came to an end on Thursday, following the talks held by the top officials of the State Department of Industries and Commerce, and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) here.

Charges

The members of the association were on an informal strike in protest against the surprise checks conducted by officials, and sealing of the premises of some traders.

They alleged that the officials were selective in conducting the checks and were targeting traders leaving the sago manufacturers.

Even while stating that the officials were well within their rights to check, and test the samples from the manufacturers and merchants, the association in a press statement released prior to the negotiations held by the government officials, said that it will be more appropriate if priority in checking for adulteration was given at the production point.

The statement said that the point of contention was that the sulphate and chloride tests conducted by the Sagoserve were not accepted in toto by the officials.

The officials have not served any notice to Sagoserve, but was taking samples from the merchants’ after they took delivery of their purchased goods from the Sagoserve, or from manufacturers.

But specifically targeting a few traders, the department creates fear and insecurity among the traders.

The department should not try to paint the merchants as culprits even before the samples were subjected to any test, the statement said.

Hence the association decided to suspend all its trading activities till proper norms were decided for the product “sago” by the FSSAI Department, and the Sagoserve

The release alleged that a majority of the members of the Tamil Nadu Tapioca Natural Sago Manufacturers Association were directly marketing their products for which there were no checks and balances.

The Deputy Directors of the State Department of Industries and Commerce, and the FSSAI Department, who rushed from Chennai held negotiations with the representatives of the association.

Following this, the sago merchants withdrew their agitation and participated in the auctioning held on Thursday evening itself, sources said.