CHANDIGARH: Coming out in support of arhtiyas, Punjab school education minister Vijay Inder Singla slammed Modi government for projecting them as middlemen.
Singla said that arhtiyas are the farmers support system in times of distress and also acts as backbone of the agriculture marketing sector in Punjab. “Whether it is sale of crops or financing needs for procurement of fertilisers, pesticides or short-term loans for marriage and household needs, it is the arhtiya who comes forward to support farmers. They do act as commission agents, but it is a symbiotic and fruitful relationship,” he said. Adding, he said that arhtiyas are an essential part of the farming community and Modi government instead of understanding their relationship, projecting it in a negative way.
Asking BJP leaders, the cabinet minister said, “Can the stock exchange market function without brokerage or judicial courts function without legal advisers?” He added that farmers in the agriculture sector also need firm support like arhtiyas and the relationship between farmers and arhtiya is “pure and pious”. He said that the arhitya also guides his client farmers about new techniques in agriculture and in other aspects as well.
Lamenting Modi Government’s anti-arhtiya media campaign, Singla said that Modi and his followers blindly project that arhityas and mandi system only add costs to the crop price and need to be removed from the chain. He added that the BJP leaders should inquire about this system from their Punjab unit leaders as they have not uttered a single word against arhtiyas in the state.
Singla said that the BJP led governments, whether in Centre or in states, have been repeatedly passing laws without consulting the sector's experts.