The Delhi government has issued a notification allowing the opening of new wholesale markets in the capital, which will be outside the purview of the three existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) markets.
“Regulations of marketing of fruits and vegetables shall cease beyond the market yards of APMC with immediate effect,” the government notification states. Delhi has three APMC markets at Azadpur, Keshopur and Shahdara.
“This is step towards deregulating fruits and vegetables from the APMC,” Delhi Chief Secretary Deepak Mohan Spolia said.
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Government sources said the changes will give farmers a wider option to sell their produce. If they sell through APMC, farmers have to abide by APMC rules. By being allowed to sell in other markets, determination of the prices will be outside the purview of APMC, sources said.
However, APMC members said they can only assess the success of the reforms once it is implemented. “Everyone wants farmers to get better prices. But let the government first tell farmers where there can sell their produce outside APMCs. Where will the new facilities be set up? This moves at present does not seem pro-farmer,” Rajendra Sharma, Azadpur APMC said.
APMC members have also highlighted the need to address “structural” issues before such reforms are introduced. “Structural issues like storage, transport, prices first need to be addressed, before expanding the markets for farmers. These mandis run on credit system. Buyers buy the produce in advance and repay us after sometime. No seller gets the cash immediately, “ Baldev Gaba, owner Gaba Trading company, Azadpur, said.
Another APMC member said the reforms should provide incentives to farmers. “We have farmers who come from Alwar. We provide them loans to procure seeds in advance. The new system also needs to work in a similar way,” Lalit, BVC Mandi, Azadpur, said.
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APMC members cited failed attempts to attract farmers to sell their produce directly. “In 2004 we developed a kisan haat where a farmer could sell directly. But the scheme was closed in 2008 and Azadpur APMC incurred a loss of Rs 10 crore,” an APMC official said.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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