The West Bengal government plans to scrap check points that collect levy for bringing agricultural produce into the market.
The move comes in the wake of frequent complaints by traders on levy of multiple payment of fee on movement of agricultural produce from one district to another.
The State Government will instead issue licences to traders bringing in agricultural produce in the markets in order to curb corruption, according to Mr Arup Roy, State Agricultural Marketing Minister.
The State levies a fee on agricultural produce at various check points when the products are being brought to the market. While vegetables are out of the ambit of such levy, agri products like potato, onion and garlic, still fall under the purview of levy, he said.
“We are planning to issue licences to traders and once we cover 80 per cent of the traders, we will scrap the check posts,” Mr Roy told newspersons on the sidelines of an interactive session organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Tuesday.
Once a licence is issued to traders, they would be required to submit returns of their business each fortnight. The State Government plans to make good for loss in revenue from levy through a licence fee, he said. “We have set a target of May 31 to register the traders, we hope we will be able to issue licences to most of them by this deadline,” he said.
The State Government also plans to sell vegetables through mother dairy depots to offer higher margin for farmers and competitive price to consumers. The project would be rolled out in about 1,200 such depots in the first phase, he added.