Punjab Government has finally decided to prune the role of arhtiyas or the commission agents, making them direct payments.
Providing farmers with two options, they can get the payment for their produce directly by account payee checks, or via bank transfers. But, the farmers have to inform the concerned market committee 45 days in advance “in writing” in which they want to sell their produce. “The farmers have to fill Form S and then give to the concerned market committee. The form would have all details related to their account, including the IFSE code. With this, the framers will get their payment via electronic clearance directly in their back accounts. In case they wanted payment in check, the buyer will have to pay them within two day’s time,” a senior government official told The Pioneer.
The state government’s, in April 2013, had submitted in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it has pruned the role of arhtiyas. But, the decision has not been implemented yet. In an attempt to put an end to age-old “arhtiyas raj” in Punjab, the State Government had left it on the farmers either to sell their produce directly to the parties, including the Food Corporation of India, or approach the purchasers through the arhtiyas. The development assumes significance as the study by ludhiana’s Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) stated that the arhtiyas in the state had put Rs 6427.27 corers in their pockets in the period of two decades from 1990.