Shimla- Himachal Seb Utpadak Sangh today submitted a memorandum of demands of the apple farmers to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, urging him to immediately implement their long-standing demands.
The farmers staged protest at the apple producing areas in support of their demands before they submitted their memorandum to the CM through the respective officers in the region.
The CPM supported Sangh led by its president Sohan Thakur and Himachal Kisan Sabah President Dr Kuldeep Singh Tanvar and Satyawan Pundir and others have reiterated their demands raised by the Sayunkt Kisan Manch of apple farmers bodies, who had previously submitted the charter of demands to the former Jai Ram Thakur government and later to the Sukhu government when the Congress party came to power in the state.
These demands include:
1. Implementing the APMC Act in Mandis.
2. Implementing the Legal Metrology Act.
3. Regulating freight fare based on weight and distance for apples.
4. Adopting the Universal Carton for apple packaging.
5. Abolishing GST on carton trays, machines, and equipment used in apple production.
6. Declaring support prices for apples: A grade - Rs 80, B grade - Rs 60, C grade - Rs 30.
7. Requiring HPMC and HIMFED to immediately pay the outstanding amounts owed to farmers for the apples taken.
8. Halting illegal recovery from gardeners at various checkpoints in the state.
9. Ensuring the availability of subsidized medicines according to the apple spray schedule.
10. Providing immediate pending subsidies for horticulture equipment such as spray machines, power tillers, and anti-hail nets.
11. Compensating gardeners for losses due to hailstorms, rain, untimely snowfall, and other natural calamities.
12. Establishing leaves and soil testing centers in each block.
13. Enforcing the provision that orchardists receive 25 percent share in CA stores established by private companies.
14. Offering a 90 percent grant to farmer cooperatives for constructing stores.
15. Waiving loans taken by horticulturists from banks and institutions.
16. Ensuring immediate payment of outstanding amounts to bagwan's agents and buyers.
17. Increasing import duty on apples to 100 percent and excluding them from Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
18. Providing proper compensation for hailstorm and other natural damages, considering the deduction of insurance installments from the KCC limit without farmers' consent.
19. Stopping the deduction of 3 kg when selling apples in crates, and deducting only the actual weight of the crate.
20. Including small and medium farmers in the availability of equipment for intensive apple cultivation.
21. Halting the practice of jobbers cutting 2 kg from each apple box.
The Seb Utpadak Sangh's 21-point memorandum highlights their urgent demands to address various issues faced by apple growers in Himachal Pradesh.
