Shimla, February 18 Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar highlighted the emergence of 379 cases of non-payment for apple purchases in three APMCs over the past three years.
Of these, 144 complaints relate to Shimla and Kinnaur, 191 to Solan, and 44 were registered in Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts, according to the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), the minister said in the state Assembly.
Responding to a question from Congress MLA Kuldeep Rathore from Theog, the minister said that the outstanding liabilities related to these purchases amounted to Rs 8.05 crore, of which Rs 1.93 crore has been disbursed to apple growers in 69 cases, while an amount of Rs 6.12 crore is still pending.
He said that to protect apple growers from fraud, the state government is changing the bank guarantee requirement for licenses.
The government will increase this amount so that no commission agent or importer can abscond after purchasing apples from the growers, the minister said.
Chander Kumar said that in view of complaints from farmers and orchardists, a decision was made at a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh State Agricultural Marketing Board on July 26, 2019, to collect a security deposit from traders at the time of registration under Section 39 of the Act.
Earlier, Rathore said that small orchardists suffer losses of crores of rupees every year and that going to court and issuing notices wastes a lot of time, as it takes years for the money to arrive.
Rathore demanded immediate action in the matter and the return of money to orchardists. He also alleged that these cases were being hushed up in the name of action and asked whether the APMC had acted responsibly.
Rathore said that orchardists stood to lose Rs 5 crore in the Shilaru market as transporters absconded with their apples.