PM shutters market committees in Punjab

Irked by reports of widespread corruption, Prime Minister Imran Khan has dissolved the market committees in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Furthermore, the premier has also ordered provincial authorities to reconstitute Punjab Agricultural Marketing Regulatory Authority (PAMRA). Officials familiar with the development said the provincial regulatory authority will undergo a complete reshuffle.

The move comes after provincial and federal authorities uncovered evidence of corruption in the market committees. It was further revealed that heads of several market committees had presented fake credentials before the government to represent farmers. On these complaints, the Ravi Road Market Committee of Lahore was dissolved a few days ago.

At present, Punjab has a total of 131 market committees, out of which 116 have political appointees. Each market committee has 13 members, including six farmers. Two members are taken from the registered middlemen’s association of the market, and one represents the consumers. The chairman and vice-chairman of the market committee are elected.

Under the law, the chairman of the market committee serves as the chief executive, who accompanies government employees and non-government members of the committee to buy and sell agricultural commodities in the markets.

Each committee is responsible for providing facilities to middlemen, ensuring quality of agricultural commodities and auctioning them at fair prices. These bodies are also required to prepare official price lists while ensuring abundant availability and supply of agricultural commodities in the markets.

“The representation on these committees is not fair,” said one insider.

According to officials familiar with the development, the prime minister and chief minister are also considering the proposal put forward by Punjab Industries and Trade Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, which recommends the creation of a high-powered price control authority.

As per the rules, price control in general markets should be done by the district administration and the provincial department for industries, and not by the market committee. This, according to one official, was not being followed.

Prior to Pakistan’s independence, the British rulers had established a system of agricultural marketing based on the significance of agriculture in the region and its unlimited economic potential.

This system was formed on the basis of the recommendations given by the Royal Commission in 1927. The aim was to increase production, provide assistance to farmers for agriculture, establish markets for the sale of produce and ensure economic security in these markets.

Shortly after independence in 1975, the government included the Agri-Produce Market Act in the Punjab Local Government Act as an alternative to the laws created by the British rulers. However, due to legal and technical loopholes, it could not be implemented.

In 1978 the government introduced the Punjab Agricultural Produce Market Act, which was implemented the following year in 1979.

Once again, in 2004, the provincial government tried to set up a full-fledged wing of agricultural marketing in the agriculture department. Subsequently, four years later, in 2018, the government passed the Punjab Agricultural Marketing Regulatory Authority Act (PAMRA). However, it has still not been implemented.

Successive provincial governments have divided market committees among their allies and supporters. Irked farmers believe middlemen in the markets are exploiting them through illegal deductions and additional commissions.

“We do not get a fair price for our produce due to the middlemen,” said one farmer. Consumers too, have been unhappy with the fluctuation in prices. “The commission agents, middlemen and retailers charge more than the usual. Due to this, products reach the markets at exorbitant rates,” said an official.