Traders delay payments to farmers, cite lack of Rs 2000 notes

As per the Mandi Act, the traders should make full payment to the farmers within 24 hours of purchasing the crop but they look for excuses to delay these payments for weeks and months. This time, the tranders are giving trouble to farmers on the pretext that Rs 2,000 notes are out of circulation.

Jabalpur: The withdrawal of ₹2000 notes by the RBI has created a problem for the farmers in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur. On the pretext that currency circulation is scarce, traders are not making cash payments to the farmers towards the sale of their crops. Traders, who always look for excuses to delay payments to farmers, are taking advantage of the latest withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes to create trouble this time.

In this season, urad and moong dal crops are coming up for sale in agricultural produce markets. This year the production of urad and moong is not very good, but the arrival in the market is fine. Due to unseasonal rains, farmers also suffer losses in many places. That's why farmers are in great need of money. Some have to pay for fertilizers and seeds while others have to pay the lease amount for land.

Farmers expect cash payments during the sale of their produce but the traders are stopping the payment of the farmers by saying that ₹ 2000 notes will go out of circulation. To expose such traders, the farmer held a sting operation at a trader's shop in Patan Mandi. The conversation between the businessman and the farmer is clearly heard in which the farmer is pleading with the businessman for his money. And the traders are giving comfort to the farmers that the payment will be done in a day or two.

In fact, the farmer had sold urad crop there 4 days back. Whose payment was around ₹ 1,70,000, the trader gave only ₹ 50,000 in cash. When the farmer asked for full payment, the trader explained to the farmer that ₹ 2000 notes have been banned. That's why there is a problem with cash and the rest of the money will be paid through RTGS in a day or two. The farmer has been visiting the merchant's shop continuously for 3 days as it is 30 km away from his house but he is not getting the money.

Many farmers are not aware that under Section 37 (b) of the Mandi Act, traders should make full payment of the purchased crop within 24 hours, in which cash up to about ₹ 2,00,000 and the rest of the money has to be transferred to the farmer's account within 24 hours. If a trader does not do so, then he will have to pay interest at the rate of 1% continuously for 5 days and even in 5 days, if the payment does not reach the farmer's account, the trader's license can be cancelled.

Congress leader Durgesh Patel alleges that the farmer is already suffering because of the high cost of diesel, expensive fertilizers and the increased cost of his farming, while unseasonal rains have caused lesser yields. Otherwise, the farmers will have to take loans to overcome this crisis and it increases his distress further. This problem is acute in remote areas where the traders are running the law arbitrarily.