BELAGAVI
Heated exchanges prevailed over the user fee proposed from suppliers to Goa Horticulture Corporation during an in-camera meeting of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) managing committee on Thursday evening. With all eight suppliers to Goa Horticulture Corporation strongly opposing the proposed charges, committee members questioned APMC Secretary B M Srinivas regarding the fees and urged him to withhold the charges. During the in-camera meeting of APMC elected representatives and officials at the APMC meeting hall, some members reportedly asked Srinivas to withhold the fees as it could harm the interests of the market yard which is governed by APMC. “The committee members were against the user fee for suppliers to Goa Horticulture Corporation. We are already facing tough competition from the wholesale vegetable market which is located near the fort area here,” a member told The Goan on condition of anonymity. “We are wooing traders and farmers to make use of the centralised facilities in the market yard. However, if the user fee is levied, we may lose the present traders as well,” he said. However, Srinivas reportedly did not give in to the members and was firm on the issue, stating that he was only abiding by the State government directives in this regard. Heated debates prevailed during the meeting that went on till late evening, with no solution over the issue that could severely harm the interests of Goa Horticulture Corporation. Meanwhile, the wholesale suppliers too have decided not to yield to the “unwarranted” directives of the APMC secretary. “If required, we will shift our procuring and packing of vegetables to some other place, but we will not pay the user fee,” supplier Ganesh Oulkar told The Goan. The APMC s demand for a 1 per cent daily user fee from suppliers to Goa Horticulture Corporation has led to tensions between authorities and suppliers. If implemented, the decision could result in an additional burden of about `5 lakh per month to Goa Horticulture Corporation, and further more, the suppliers will have to shell out heavy dues for several years. Eight suppliers from Belagavi supply vegetables to Horticulture Corporation of Goa for subsidised supply to Goans. The vegetables procured from the farmers and traders are stocked in a shed at the APMC market yard here, which in turn is packaged and sent to Goa five days a week. About 25 tonnes of vegetables worth `20 lakh are supplied to Goa every day, suppliers told The Goan.
