UPSC Mains Current Affairs for 14 April 2026

Biometric Verification in Mandis Latest News

• A section of farmers in Haryana protested against the mandatory biometric verification for selling crops in mandis, blocking highways and alleging it creates harassment and procedural hurdles.
• The state government, however, defended the move as a step to enhance transparency and accountability in the procurement system.

Mandi System in India

• The Mandi system is India's regulated agricultural marketplace framework where farmers bring their produce for sale through a structured auction process. 
• These mandis (wholesale markets) are established under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Acts enacted by individual state governments. 
• The APMC Act designates specific geographical areas as market yards, and all agricultural trade within that area must compulsorily pass through the regulated mandi. 
• Middlemen called arhatiyas (commission agents) facilitate transactions between farmers and buyers, charging a commission on every sale.

Issues and Challenges 

• Structural Problems
  • The mandi system has long been criticised for creating a monopoly of middlemen. 
  • The middlemen often advance loans to farmers, creating a cycle of debt bondage where farmers are compelled to sell exclusively through their creditor-agent regardless of price.
• Fragmented Market and Multiple Levies
  • India's mandi system is highly fragmented — a trader operating across states must obtain separate licences in each state and pay multiple layers of taxes including market fees, commission charges, and various local levies. 
  • This fragmentation increases transaction costs and discourages private investment in agricultural marketing infrastructure.
• Price Realisation Gap
  • Farmers typically receive only 30-40% of the final consumer price of their produce, with the remainder absorbed by the chain of intermediaries.
  • In the current setup, farmers are often price-takers rather than price-setters, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation especially during periods of surplus production.
• Infrastructure Deficits
  • Many mandis suffer from inadequate storage, cold chain facilities, and processing infrastructure. 
  • Poor road connectivity to mandis, lack of weighing equipment, and absence of grading and sorting facilities result in significant post-harvest losses.
• Information Asymmetry
  • Farmers — particularly small and marginal ones — lack access to real-time price information, making them heavily dependent on the arhatiya for price discovery.

Government Efforts at Reform and Integration

• Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) - Launched in April 2016, e-NAM is an online trading portal that networks existing APMC mandis across the country into a unified national market.
• Model APMC Act, 2003 - The central government circulated a Model APMC Act encouraging states to amend their legislations to allow direct purchase from farmers, establishment of private markets, and promotion of contract farming. 
  • However, adoption across states was uneven, with several states making only cosmetic changes.
• Gramin Haats and Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) - The government has been upgrading 22,000 Gramin Haats (rural periodical markets) into Farmer-Consumer Markets to enable direct farm-to-consumer trade, bypassing intermediaries. 
  • Simultaneously, PACS are being strengthened to provide collective bargaining power to small farmers.

Haryana’s Biometric Procurement System in Mandis

• Introduced in 2026, Haryana’s procurement system mandates Aadhaar-based fingerprint verification for farmers before selling crops in mandis, linked to the “Meri Fasal-Mera Byora” portal to ensure accurate registration and prevent discrepancies. 
• The system also includes vehicle tracking, requiring tractor details and photos, and geofencing of procurement centres and storage points to enhance monitoring and prevent misuse. 
• So far, hundreds of mandis and over a thousand storage locations have been brought under this digital oversight framework.

Reason Behind Biometric Verification in Haryana Mandis

• The biometric verification system was introduced following the 2025 Karnal paddy scam, where fake gate passes were used to sell paddy from other states in Haryana mandis. 
• This led to fraudulent procurement records and siphoning of government funds, involving officials, traders, and millers. 
• The scam resulted in multiple FIRs and arrests, prompting the government to implement biometric verification to prevent such fraud and ensure transparency in procurement.

Farmers’ Concerns Over Biometric Verification

• Farmers argue that procurement irregularities were due to collusion among officials and millers, not farmers themselves, yet the new system places the burden on them. 
• They report long queues, slow verification, and procedural hassles, especially when the registered farmer cannot be physically present. 
• Many see the process as excessive and humiliating, with union leaders calling it overly cumbersome and farmers feeling they are being treated with undue suspicion.

Government–Opposition Divide on Biometric Procurement

• The Haryana government defends biometric verification as a tool to enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency, noting significant adoption in wheat procurement. 
• It has also introduced relaxations, such as allowing nominated individuals and flexible vehicle documentation.
• However, opposition leaders criticise the system as bureaucratic and arbitrary, arguing it unfairly burdens farmers while ignoring the real issue of collusion among officials and traders.

Source: IE | DTE