Ranchi, Feb 18 (PTI) Foodgrain traders who have been on strike under the banner of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) for the past four days called off the stir on Saturday evening after the state government assured them to look into their demands.

About 1.5 lakh food grain traders in Jharkhand went on an indefinite strike on February 15 against the state government's new agriculture bill apprehending it will impact the farmers adversely and lead to price rise.

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“On assurances given by the government at a meeting today, we have decided to postpone the strike in view of the chaos that has arisen in the state after the ongoing protest by the traders,” FJCCI president Kishor Mantri told PTI.

A meeting among an FJCCI delegation and Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh and Chief Minister's secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey was held during the day.

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“The agriculture minister assured us to consider all our demands,” Mantri said.

Earlier, a ruling UPA delegation met Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and handed him over a memorandum requesting him to reconsider the two per cent market fee proposed in the new agriculture bill.

“People of the state are already in trouble due to the hike in GST rates. In such a situation, the imposition of a two per cent market fee proposed in the agriculture bill might increase the burden of inflation on people. So, we request you to reconsider it and take an appropriate decision,” the memorandum said.

The delegates included Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur and senior JMM leaders Vinod Kumar Pandey and Fagu Besra.

The Jharkhand State Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing Bill, 2022, got the gubernatorial ascent on February 4.

The then Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais had also given some suggestions to the state government in light of the bill.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)