City

While city gives nod to FDI, Vashi dithers

Shetkari Sanghatna leader claims that infrastructure the new policy brings with it will help farmers, while NCP that has its stronghold in Mathadi workers and APMCs says they should be consulted first

Tanaji Khot & Abhijit Sathe

Posted On Friday, December 07, 2012 at 09:05:26 AM

Members of the Commission Agents Association on strike at Gultekdi Market Yard

While Pune’s markets have given their nod to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), traders in Vashi’s Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) are dead against the move to introduce FDI in the retail sector.

They claim it is a plan to cripple the agricultural sector and allow world economic powers to have asay in the country’s retail market. Raghunath Patil, leader of the Shetkari Sanghatana, said, “Political parties who are taking a different stands on the FDI are playing vote politics. As India signed the World Trade Organisation agreement, we do not have a choice.”

Patil added that the existing market system has failed as they are centres of exploitation of farmers. APMCs collected revenue for a while through market cess, but they have failed to provide even minimum facilities to farmers. Patil said, “When investment comes into the market, infrastructure for cold storage will come in and be a great help to farmers.

This will stop their produce from perishing and fluctuations in prices will be reduced. It will bring about certainty in the agricultural sector.” The fear political parties have about the existing system disappearing due to FDI is unfounded. “It is similar to Amrutatulyas and vada-pav joints coexisting with three and five-star hotels in the city.”

However, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that has its stronghold among the Mathadi workers and APMCs in the state supported Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector at the Centre but hinted they can take a different stand on the issue in Maharashtra. NCP MLA Shashikant Shinde, Mathadi leader in the Vashi APMC market, said, “FDI has been accepted by the country and states have to decide the details.

After accepting FDI in the retail sector, there will be competition in trading. We are accepting FDI as it is beneficial for farmers, but interests of other sections such as loaders and traders should also be considered.” He also asked how stringent regulation of APMCs on traders could continue when afree hand was given to private players.

“It will be unfair competition and the existing mechanism will collapse. A monopoly of private companies will be established. Then, who will secure the farmers’ interests,” Shinde asked. NCP will implement FDI in the retail sector only after winning confidence of porters.

Besides their opposition to FDI, traders were agitating when the State introduced uniformity in trading commissions across close to 200 APMCs. Traders in Vashi APMC bore the brunt, as their commission dropped for most commodities. A three-day strike to protest this and the move to introduce FDI in the retail sector was organised, but has been called off after the State intervened. A token strike is proposed on Friday.

About 90 per cent of the State APMCs are controlled by NCP. Several APMC traders’ associations are led by NCP men. When asked about the crisis, Shinde said, “The State has sent a circular without a discussion with the community that will be effected by it. When traders decided to strike, the government decided to form a study group.

They should have had a study group first to avoid a crisis like this.” Harish Vasandani, a prominent fruit trader from APMC Vashi gave the example of how the US and Canadian governments ruined India’s pulses-growing farmers in the first half of the decade by pushing in cheap surplus pulses, and selling these at a premium when Indian farmers could not cope.

Traders claim the UPA does not understand that Indian agriculture and the consumer market is different from the West. “Our cultivators are 50 years away from their counterparts.

Average land holdings are small, support from the government in terms of facilities and subsidies is poor and they still do not have as much role in the decision making process as far as market selection and pricing is concerned,” they said.

► It is similar to Amrutatulyas and vada-pav joints coexisting with three and five star hotels in the city