Letter to BS: Decision to dismante monopoly of APMC mandis deserves praise

The decision to dismantle the monopoly of the APMC should not be perceived as an onslaught on the spirit of cooperative federalism or an encr­o­achment into the rights of the states

For long, farmers had been denied the freedom to sell their products to anyone, anywhere and anytime with the APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) exercising monopoly to the detriment of the interests of farmers. While many have been demanding the removal of the barriers to trade in farm produce, it mostly fell on deaf ears of the state governments. It should be noted here that “agriculture”, “markets” and “fairs” fall under the State List of the seventh schedule of our Constitution. Under these circumstances, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre took a decision to dismantle the monopoly of the