Veggis traders protest ‘overcharging’ by contractor in Maqsudan mandi

Several fruit and vegetable traders/transporters on Monday lodged a protest outside the main mandi at Maqsudan for overcharging by the contractor in issuing of gate passes.

The vendors said they were being charged Rs 100 per round even as the government’s fixed rate was much lower. They demanded that the pass once issued should be valid for 12 hours as they had to sometimes make multiple rounds in the day, which was proving to be too hefty on their pockets.

Sarabjit Singh, a vendor, said, “The contractor’s staff tear off our ‘parchi’ once used so that we have to get a new one issued for each round. We have confronted them several times but they say that they have taken the contract by paying more than Rs 7 crore and they have to now recover this amount". There are about 1,000 vendors, traders or suppliers entering the mandi daily for sale/purchase.

Market Committee Chairman Gurpal Singh arrived at the scene and appealed to the traders not to protest. He stated that he had received a call from the secretary regarding the protest. He had not received any written complaint from the traders or transporters. He said if any irregularities or overcharging would be found, action would be taken against the contractor.

The chairman explained that user charges were being levied at all three gates and contractor was not allowed to charge extra money. Action had been taken in similar cases in the past, and if any further incidents occurred, the contractor would face consequences. Upon the chairman’s intervention, the vendors ended their protest and started work.

ACP Aatish Bhatia assured them that the police would support the traders and take action if anyone was threatened. Rakhi, representing the Vendors’ Association, demanded that the contract be cancelled, alleging that the contractor had even threatened the association’s president Shunty. Despite a meeting on Saturday, no action was taken, prompting them to stage a protest.

The traders claimed that the contractor was collecting Rs 2.5 crore from them but failing to maintain cleanliness in the market. They alleged that there was no provision of clean drinking water and washrooms in the entire market. Vendors’ Association President Ravi Shankar Gupta demanded that gate passes be issued at government-approved rates, but this was not being done. He warned that the protest could re-continue until the issue was resolved.

Jalandhar