As the farmers at the Uzhavar Sandhai in Sampath Nagar here were told not to sell vegetables to traders, they staged a sit-in protest at the shandy on Monday.
The shandy with 630 registered farmers is run by the Department of Agricultural Marketing where farmers from across the district used to bring their produce every day.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic and absence of public transportation, the arrival of farmers and produce had dropped significantly in the past six months. Against the usual 135 shops, less than 60 shops function now from 5.30 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Many people complained to officials that the farmers were selling vegetables to traders in the early hours and they did not get vegetables even at 6 a.m. Hence, the officials asked the farmers to sell vegetables to the public first and to traders after 8 a.m. Also, the traders were asked to purchase vegetables from the wholesale market.
On Monday, the arrival of vegetables was very less and the farmers sold most of their produce to the traders and the public returned without vegetables. When the officials questioned the farmers, they protested at the two entrances. They said the officials were acting against the welfare of farmers.
The farmers said they could not wait for the public to purchase and hence they were selling it to traders. The officials told them that as per norms they could sell vegetables only to people who come there. Later, the farmers withdrew the protest and left with their produce without selling in the shandy.
A senior official told The Hindu the traders purchased the vegetables from the farmers and sold it with profit outside the shandy. Despite warning, they continued to do so. “When we questioned the farmers, they staged protest,” the official added.