Footfall falls as agri equipment makers boycott kisan mela

Participants who put up stalls at the fair claimed that the arrangements were much better this time as compared to the previous melas.

With more than 100 agricultural equipment manufacturing firms boycotting the Kisan Mela of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) which started on Friday, empty spaces were clearly visible in the vast PAU mela grounds. Owing to poor facilities provided by the university, manufacturers of tractors and harvesters boycotted the fair on Friday. However, participants who put up stalls at the fair claimed that the arrangements were much better this time as compared to the previous melas.

Pavinder Singh, of Crompton Pumps, who came from Jalandhar to put a stall, said, “Some issues were genuine as the mela was a disaster last year as rain played a spoil sport and PAU had no crisis management system in place. We all suffered huge losses but this year seem better. For instance, earlier, there was no demarcation of stalls and tents were not installed in time. This time, stalls were marked and tents were installed in advance.”

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Arshdeep Singh Brar, senior manager of Sonalika tractors said, “The crowd has been diverted and with less number of participants, we got better response. PAU mela is a good platform to showcase latest technologies to farmers. So boycotting the mela was not a good option for us.” In September last, the mela turned to be a disaster as heavy rains lashed and spoiled all the machinery. There were no arrangements in place and exhibitors suffered huge losses. Agriculture minister Tota Singh pointed out loopholes and Dr B S Dhillon, vice chancellor also issued transfer orders of two scientists immediately after the fair.

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On Friday, Tota Singh, the chief guest, accompanied a team of engineers from Mandi board and announced that Rs 1 crore will be spent to build a shed at open air-theater of PAU where inauguration takes place during every mela.

Upkar Singh, general secretary, CICU and Baldev Singh of Punjab state agriculture implement manufacturers association said, “We decided to boycott the mela as toilets, drinking water, flooring, good quality stalls are never provided despite high rates of stalls.”

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punjab agricultural university