Farmers Movement Archive

Haryana govt reschedules auction of agro malls in Karnal, Panipat

Following a threat of protest by farm leader Rakesh Tikait, the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) has rescheduled the auction of two agro malls in Karnal and Panipat to December 2 in lack of buyers.Earlier, the HSAMB had invited bids for e-auction of agro malls on November 18 but the process could not be completed in lack of required number of bidders.On November 15, three days before the e-auction, Tikait, along with a group of farmers, had visited Karnal’s agro mall and had warned that the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) will not allow the government to sell agro malls in Karnal and Panipat to private people at any cost.Tikait had termed the Haryana government’s move as the beginning of privatisation of agriculture mandis in country. He had directed local farmers to unite against the decision, not allow any private traders to buy the agro malls, and lock them inside if any official or buyer comes to the agro-malls.The HSAMB had invited applications from interested parties for the e-auction terming it a golden opportunity to own commercial sites.The Karnal agro mall has commercial build-up of 2.02 lakh sq-ft and the Panipat one 63,256 sq-ft. Earnest money deposit of ₹3.50 crore and ₹1 crore was fixed for the Karnal and Panipat agro mall, respectively.HSAMB chief administrator Vinay Yadav said the decision to defer the e-auction of both the properties was taken as the required number of bidders is not there and now the interested parties can join the e-auction on December 2.On whether the decision was taken following threat by farmers, he said, “Farmers have nothing to do with these agro malls and the government has decided to sell these properties after considering all options.”He said the properties are lying useless for the past eight years and there is no other alternative left but to sell these malls.On the other hand, Haryana BKU (Tikait) president Ratan Mann said they will continue their protest against the backdoor selling of these agro malls and will soon install banners outside the malls requesting buyers not to invest in these properties.He said these agro malls can be utilised as selling point of agro products, seeds and fertilisers, and as information centres for farmers.The agro malls were launched at four places – Rohtak, Karnal, Panchkula, and Panipat – by the previous Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in 2013-14 at ₹200 crore. But the government had failed to use the farmer specific agro malls as a platform to sell agri-products.The Karnal and Panipat agro malls have been lying vacant since their construction was completed eight years ago. The government had considered many options and had even decided to lease out these malls to other departments with these departments paying a monthly rent, but the idea was dropped and the HSAMB decided to sell both the malls.

Hindustan Times

23-11-2021

Chandigarh