The KHADC (Establishment, Management and Control of Markets) (Second Amendment) Regulation, Act 2021, has failed to counter the deduction of the farmer’s produce.
Hill Farmers’ Union (HFU) president Commander Shangpliang stated that deduction of the farmer’s produce continues. “We were happy and hoped that the evil of deduction of the farmer’s produce that has continued for decades will stop with the act, but this never happened,” he said.
Shangpliang suggested that a task force or a special committee would be able to completed stop the deduction. “We also want the traders to not take otherwise but adhere to the decision taken by the district council on the deduction system,” he said.
Shangpliang also stated that some farmers in Ri Bhoi have been pressurised by some traders that if they stop deduction, they will stop procuring their produce, putting farmers in a quandary.
“The farmers depend on traders to market their produce and if they are being subjected to such pressures, it makes their lives difficult. We urged the traders to at least respect the hard work put in by farmers,” he said.
He further said that the union is also ready to extend its support to traders in their fight for any forms of illegal collection along the road, since this also affects the the farmers.
“There should be no illegal collection against the vegetable traders and we demand the government to strictly look into this aspect and eradicate all the illegal collection on the road,” he added.
