Shimla, August 26, 2026:
BJP leader Chetan Bragta on Wednesday met the Managing Director of the Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) and raised a series of concerns confronting apple growers, including pending MIS payments, inadequate procurement centres and technical problems with the HPMIS mobile application.
Bragta alleged that the Congress government had “betrayed” apple growers by failing to resolve their long-pending grievances. He said payments relating to previous years under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) were still pending in several cases.
“Apple growers should not be made to run from pillar to post for payments that are already due to them. Where the department already has the required records, growers should not be repeatedly asked to submit additional documents,” Bragta said.
He also raised concerns over the functioning of apple procurement centres, saying that centres in some areas had been merged while procurement agents had not yet been appointed at certain locations.
Bragta said growers were also facing difficulties while using the HPMIS mobile application for the procurement process.
“Growers are complaining that the app frequently crashes, logs them out automatically and that OTPs do not arrive on time. A system introduced for their convenience should not become another source of harassment,” he said.
He further flagged concerns over the security of growers’ personal and land-related information. “It is a serious matter if the private information of one grower becomes visible to another person. The system must be thoroughly examined and the personal data of growers protected,” he said.
Bragta also objected to growers having to pay additional charges at Lok Mitra Kendras or Common Service Centres (CSCs) when they are unable to operate the mobile application themselves due to lack of technical knowledge.
“I am not opposed to digitalisation, but technology must be simple, accessible and farmer-friendly. Growers are already dealing with weather uncertainties, rising input costs and market-related challenges. Government systems should reduce their burden, not add to it,” Bragta said.
He said the meeting with the HPMC Managing Director was positive and expressed hope that the corporation would take prompt action to address the issues raised by apple growers.
