To empower the Marketing Board financially, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday directed the officers of Marketing Board to take effective steps to check evasion of tax in the mandis. The Chief Minister said this while presiding over a meeting of Marketing Board officials held here in Chandigarh.

State Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister JP Dalal, Chief Administrator, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board TL Satyaprakash, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Ashima Brar and CMEO, Marketing Board Sunil Sharma were also present in the meeting.

The Chief Minister said that assessment of the vendors should be done in every mandi in the state so that complete information can be collected and tax can be paid. Apart from this, CCTV cameras should also be installed in the mandis. He directed that the apple market to be established in Pinjore should be developed and an auction of shops should be conducted. Apart from this, the shops of Agro Malls of Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak and Panchkula should also be sold.

The Chief Minister also directed the Marketing Board to complete the construction of roads connecting the mandis at the earliest so that the farmers do not face any difficulty in commuting to the mandis.

Khattar said that now traders who are into cotton crushing work will be able to get licenses by paying a one-time tax in the state. This will increase business in the state and the government will also get revenue. In the meeting, it was decided that now cotton crushing traders will be able to obtain licenses by paying a one-time tax of Rs 42000 per unit of expeller and will pay this tax every financial year. This decision will be applicable for three years. After this, the tax will be reviewed again.

The Chief Minister said that earlier filling up of L-1 form was mandatory for crushing cotton units that are bringing raw material from outside but after this decision, it will not be mandatory to fill the L-1 form. In this way, the government will get revenue of Rs 42000 per unit as a processing fee for cottonseed oil mills. There are about 453 crushing units and 1520 expeller units running in Haryana.