Five major Maharashtra wholesale markets: Govt likely to appoint officials as directors

Officials say the move will free the markets from political interference and allow for better implementation of schemes

Five major wholesale markets in the state, including Pune’s, are likely to see a major change in the way their board of directors are elected. Instead of elections to pick the board, the state government is likely to appoint senior officials as directors to run these markets. These five markets — the wholesale markets of Vashi, Nashik, Kolhapur and Nagpur, besides Pune — receive around 30 per cent of the commodities arriving from other states and have substantially large turnovers. Vashi’s is the largest wholesale market in the state and, besides Maharashtra, records arrivals from Gujarat, among other states. The move to appoint senior officials as directors is part of the new model Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act circulated by the central government in March this year. The Act specifies markets with more than 30 per cent arrival from other states as markets of national importance.