The Madhya Pradesh government said in the State Assembly today that the fee on gur (jaggery) will continue. Sugarcane farmers are paying more for selling home-made gur to traders in the state but government today said the commodity would remain a scheduled commodity and would be “tradable” in mandis only after the payment of licence fees.
Issues of tax on gur was debated in the state Assembly during the call of attention motion raised by main Opposition Congress members Narmada Prasad Prajapati, Sunil Jaiswal and Sadhna Sthapak that the state has imposed a tax on the said commodity which directly had an adverse impact on the sugarcane farmers. “Farmers of Narsinghpur district grow 50 per cent of the total sugarcane produce of the state, sugar miller harass them and do not make timely payment. As a result, they have now set up their own mini-crushing machines to make gur and trade it. But traders do not award proper price to the commodity as state has imposed tax on gur trade in mandis,” alleged Prajapati. Sadhna Sthapak also pointed out and asked, “Why only gur has been brought under scheduled commodity list to impose tax?”
To which State Agriculture Minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria said, “Gur has been notified under the scheduled category during the last month, it has now become “tradable” commodity in mandis only if a trader pays licence fee to purchase the commodity from farmers. The fee (Rs 1,000 for five years) is not levied from farmers, it is levied only from traders. A trader has to pay a refundable amount of Rs 1,000 for a period of five years to obtain licence for direct purchase of jaggery from sugarcane growers. This will help farmers get the right prices against the commodity.” The minister also said, “Union Minister Kamalnath had recommended bringing the commodity under schedule list.” Sadhna Sthapak however raised the issue further and said, “This restriction has put the commodity under open auction but only local traders participate in auction and form a cartel. Last week, nobody purchased jaggery in Narsinghpur mandi and farmers returned empty-handed. How exactly is the state government helping farmers?”
State Finance Minister Raghavji contested the claims of Opposition members and said, “State has powers to notify any commodity under the Mandi Act to bring any commodity under open auction system. Narsinghpur and Gadarwara mandis are authorised for this auction. There is no tax but licence fee for gur purchase, which is mandatory.”
The members also pointed out that sugar millers have long pending dues to farmers. “Only last year, millers owed more than Rs 2 crore to sugarcane growers in Narsinghpur district,” alleged Prajapati. The agriculture minister said, “The matter is under investigation and there will be a solution to it soon.”