December 21, 2020 10:23:54 pm
Arhtiyas claim they are being targeted for supporting the farmer’s protest.
For the past week, Arhtiyas in Punjab have been receiving summons and notices from the income tax department. In addition, there have been IT raids on the premises of the seven arhtiyas, including the district presidents of the arhtiya associations and the president of the state association of commission agents. The Indian Express explains why arhtiyas are suddenly on TI’s radar.
How do the arhtiyas view the repression of the IT department?
Arhtiyas claim they are being targeted for supporting the farmer’s protest. In addition to participating in the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Singhu and Tikri border in Delhi, the Arhtiyas have been sending buses with protesters from across the state to the protest sites. They had also closed mandis in protest for the three days from December 7 to 9 that they participated in the protest in Delhi. The arhtiyas note that there is a widespread impression among government officials in Delhi that they are the ones sponsoring the farmers’ agitation. They argue that it is a form of intimidation to make them end their support for the protest.
Are the arhtiyas sponsoring the farmers’ protests in Delhi?
No. Arhtiyas have been participating in the protests, but they are not sponsoring the farmers’ agitation anyway.
“They (farmers) have never asked us for cash or in-kind help for their protests in Punjab in the last six months. Not even because of the Delhi protest, ”said Punjab Arhtiya Association president Ravinder Singh Cheema, adding that if they (farmers) demand anything from us,“ we will be happy to help them ”.
“They have not even asked us to participate in their protest and we are participating on our own. Now, we are sending our buses with arhtiyas and mandi workers to sit in dharna for 10 days and then we replace them with new protesters every 10 days due to health, hygiene and cold weather, but not a single farmer is traveling on our buses. Farmers travel in their tractor-cars or in their own separate buses, ”added Cheema.
“If their children, who are working, studying abroad, send them between 50 and 100 dollars to help them, they are calling them ‘Khalistani’, which is a shame,” he said.
He said it is completely a farmers’ movement.
“Farmers have been collecting rations, bedding, tents, blankets, quilts from village after village through their activists to supply the places of dharna. Apart from this, every section of society is overwhelmingly reaching out to help them in this cause, as the people from the Muslim community of Malerkotla sent them rations, so it is a human cause, but it is not sponsored by anyone, including the arhtiyas, which the government is thinking about. “Cheema said, adding:” The arhtiyas are not at all behind this financial or other uproar. “
Did the Arhtiyas face such repression by the IT department in the past?
“We are not aware of the arhtiyas having been attacked in this way in the past. Any hopeless case can happen, but it’s not that the entire class of arhtiyas has never been attacked, ”Cheema said, adding that proper procedure was not followed for the search raids and the raids were carried out on the night.
“Did you find black money, any objectionable documents except empty jute bags, bedding provided to workers during their stay in mandis from the Arhtiyas facility?” Cheema asked. 📣 Follow Express explained on Telegram
“The wife of an arhtiya suffered a heart problem, and her parents in the 1990s also faced health problems after this raid,” he said, adding that the raids were carried out in the presence of two buses full of CRPF personnel. .
“Like the Arhtiyas, IT officials are also under enormous mental pressure for such unethical moves against the Arhtiyas,” Cheema said.
Most of the Arhtiyas who faced raids reported that some officials on the IT team told them that they found no reason to carry out the raids, but instead had to follow the instructions of their bosses.
“Our system has been fully transparent since 2013, as we have been paying farmers by checks and now payments are made online,” said Vijay Kalra, who also faced raids on his facilities.
Who are the arhtiyas who were issued notices or whose premises were raided?
The notices were delivered to 14 arhtiyas and raids were carried out on seven facilities. Most of them are officers of arhtiya associations at the state and district level. Arhtiyas who were assaulted included Vijay Kalra (President of the Punjab Arthiya Federation and Vice President of the Punjab Mandi board), Pawan Kumar Goyal (President of Samana Mandi), Jaswinder Singh Rana (President of the Patiala district of the association of arhtiyas), Manjinder Singh Walia (President, Nawanshahr Arhtiya Association), Haep Singh Ladda (President, Rajpura Arhtiya Association) and Kartar Singh & Amrik Singh (Rajpura arhtiyas). “Most of those attacked are those who have been in the forefront sending buses, vehicles full of arhtiyas and mandi workers to the dharna sites in Delhi and issuing statements to the press and who were quite active from November 26 to 30”, Cheema said.
What reasons are mentioned in the notifications sent to the arhtiyas?
The notifications / subpoenas, copies of which were obtained from the arhtiyas, were served pursuant to Section 131 (A) of the TI Act of 1961. They were asked to submit source of income, copies of TI’s statement for three years together with a calculation chart, recorded as prescribed in Form ‘F’ (as provided in the bylaws of the Punjab Marketing Committee for agricultural crops you receive or bring), copy of Form ‘B’ for the weighing of agricultural products sold by them during the last 2 years, Form ‘M’ showing the sale and purchase of each transaction of agricultural products, and copies of entry passes issued in form ‘H’, books in form ‘ G ‘in which the daily jobs of the last two years are recorded, copies of the bank account with a narration in which funds from the sale of agricultural products are received, names of the farmers who have sold crops through e llos in the last two years. In addition, they have been asked for farmer accounts that appear on their books, and any unsecured loans issued by them to farmers, the interest they are charged along with the ledgers of interest received in the last two years.
Why do arhtiyas support / participate in farmers’ protests?
There are around 28,000 registered arhtiyas in Punjab handling agricultural household crops of around 11 lakh which includes acquiring around 36 million tons, including wheat, rice, basmati, cotton, corn, oilseeds, plus etc. . in the main courtyard 154. of the Agricultural Products Market Committees and 1,700 sub yards, shopping center at the district, block and village level under the APMC Law of the State of Punjab. They own their stores in these mandis and each arhtiyas handles the harvest of 20 to around 100 farmers, so they get their 2.5 percent to facilitate transactions between a farmer and the actual buyer, who may be a private trader, processor. , exporter or a government. agency like the FCI. The arhtiya is not a trader but as a facilitating broker.
Arhtiyas says that if the CMPAs are weakened by the Center’s new farm laws, they will lose their commission and connection to the farmers they also give credit to.
What is the next course of action for the arhtiyas now?
Cheema issued a statement on Monday saying that even if the government hangs the arhtiyas, they will not stop their protest now against three farm laws. “No arhtiya will open the door to IT officials when they go to raid their facilities until farmers, workers and arhtiyas arrive on the scene to organize dharnas,” he said, adding: “Also Punjabi grain markets have been closed. for an indefinite period from today and the arhtiyas will go to SC against this government step. ”Arhtiyas had sought the support of farmers’ organizations against this government act and farmers, agricultural workers are fully supporting them now .
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