Only Farmers Should Allow In Ulavar Sandhai
Uzhavar Sandhais are coming under the grip of middlemen and steps should be taken to ensure that people benefited from reasonable pricing of vegetables, State secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party G.K.S. Selvakumar has said. In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, he pointed out that Uzhavar Sandhais were opened some years ago to enable farmers to sell their produce directly to the public. This system eliminated the need for middlemen to reach farm produce to the people. While the farmers were expected to benefit from good rates for the produce, the concept also aimed at providing to the people vegetables and fruits at prices much lower than at other markets. But, the purpose of providing benefits both to the farmers and the buyers seemed to be getting defeated now, what with the shandies coming under the grip of middlemen, it said. When the price of vegetables skyrocketed in the open market, Uzhavar Sandhais provided comfort to the people by offering these at affordable prices.
People flocked to the shandies to get around price rise. But, some persons bought vegetables in huge quantities, leaving almost nothing for the general public. At the same time, persons who were not farmers managed to obtain tokens to occupy stalls at the Sandhais. The prices were not fixed by consulting farmers. And, this denied a reasonable profit for the farmers. The letter appealed for steps to fix reasonable prices and to drive middlemen out of the Uzhavar Sandhais.
