July 22, 2007	Sunday	Rajab 06, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 21: The Punjab government plans to amend the Punjab Agriculture Produce Markets Ordinance to limit the role of market committees, democratise appointment of administrators and allow the private sector to set up parallel grain and vegetable markets.

According to a proposal, nine steps have been identified to make the ordinance compatible with and responsive to the growing needs of agriculture produce markets.

The new law proposes to limit the market committees’ jurisdiction to the market areas alone, instead of the municipal limits.

The proposal says that at present the attention of the market committees is riveted on the entire area of jurisdiction, taxing every kind of transaction of food, grain and vegetables.

“The practice not only results in neglect of markets, which suffer a total lack of infrastructure and deplorable hygienic conditions, but also promotes corruption,” says the proposal as described by the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board.

According to the existing law, the government appoints all the 134 market administrators in the province including Rawalpindi and other big cities. The posts have mostly become a source of political wrangling.

Under the proposed law, the stakeholders of the respective markets would elect the administrators.

Even the farmers who sell their produce in that particular vegetable market would be part of the electoral college.

Farmers, traders, market functionaries and consumers will also have a say in running of these institutions under the new law.