Punjab Agriculture Minister’s announcement to reduce their commission by 1.5 per cent on the sale of cotton. Several arhtiyas (commission agents) from across the state gathered at the Mansa grain market Monday to protest against the Punjab Agriculture Minister’s announcement to reduce their commission by 1.5 per cent on the sale of cotton.
Last week, Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that the commission of arhtiyas will be reduced from 2.5 per cent to 1 per cent on the sale of cotton, which received widespread criticism from the state’s commission agents.
“Though Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema had indicated that he wasn’t aware of any such change, no formal clarification has come from the government’s side to date. Hence we have gathered to protest this issue,” said Jetinder Kumar Garg, president of Kachha arhtiya association in Mansa’s Bareta mandi.
He added, “The agriculture minister needs to do his homework well before giving such statements. They need to clarify soon or we will launch an agitation against the government. This government has been formed with the support of farmers and arhtiyas and now they are against us. They need to tell us who had raised this demand before them.”
Manish Kumar Babbi Danewalia, president of the Mansa arhtiya association said, “Their target is to finish the arhtiyas and later the farmers because one can see that in the states where there are no arhtiyas, farmers are living in miserable conditions even after having 10 acres of land. One can see examples of Bihar and UP whose farmers come to Punjab to work as farm labourers.”
Vijay Kalra, president of the Punjab arhtiya federation said that “such statements are given once a decision is passed in the Cabinet while no such agenda was taken…hence the minister needs to clarify as to why he gave this statement.”
Meanwhile, Dhaliwal has called for a joint meeting of arhtiyas and cotton ginning factory owners on September 9 in Chandigarh.