Maharashtra govt denies report of penal action on agricultural traders

A senior official of the Government of Maharashtra has denied any proposal to penalise or cancel the licence of traders buying from farmers at below the minimum support price (MSP).

The clarification came after media reports that the state cabinet had decided to penalise any buying of produce from farmers below the central government-set MSP. Reports of the decision had resulted in traders at the Baramati and Latur wholesale markets, both major ones, declining to participate in auctions. Something similar began at Jalna but the authorities there too the initiative to clarify that there was no such decision.

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