In February, I went to the Curchorem Branch of the Goa Bagayatdar Sahakari to sell black pepper that had grown in my orchard. At that time, the price stood at Rs 610 per kilo. The prices were declining, and I worried about it on my way there.
I reached soon enough and handed over two large gunny bags of pepper to a female clerk. She weighed the bags and proceeded to fill out my payment receipt. As she handed me the receipt, she told me she hadn’t paid me for two kilos. Upon inquiry, she added that those two kilos were actually the weight of the gunny bags. Two gunny bags for Rs 1220! Apparently, that was the ‘norm’ of the Goa Bagayatdar Sahakari.
I then pointed out that the scale also picked up 50 grams extra, for which she did not pay me. She countered by saying the scale readings wavered due to the movement of varem (air). I was ultimately issued a cheque that included neither the two kilos nor the 50 grams. She left me wondering whether I would have to forgo another kilo of pepper if I were to sell the remaining pepper still with me. I came away feeling swindled by Goa Bagayatdar. However, it was anyway different from the middle men who swindle poor farmers in other states. What happens to a poor farmer who goes to Goa Bagayatar with their little produce? Is there anyone in the government who checks this loot, or is this legal? If it’s the latter, I am a shouting hoarse over nothing? Can someone from the organization explain how two gunny bags weigh two kilos?
