Jalandhar/Pataila/Sangrur: Paddy procurement was stalled on Tuesday due to a strike by commission agents and laborers who were demanding higher commission and labor charges. However, government said that procurement began at mandis in rural areas.
A meeting held at the Chief Minister’s residence in Chandigarh between Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak and leaders from the Federation of Arhtiya Association and Anaz Mandi Mazdoor Union ended without a resolution.
The association stated that the state government raised labor charges for six tasks performed by workers—including unloading grain, cleaning, weighing, stitching bags, filling grains, and loading onto trucks and tractor-trailers—by 25 percent in 2011. Currently, laborers receive Rs 16.05 per 35-kg bag, while their counterparts in Haryana earn Rs 1.30 more per bag. In both states, the buyer is the Food Corporation of India (FCI). After 13 years, the workers are seeking at least a 25 percent increase in their labor charges, but the government has not responded to their demands.