The amendments, which provide for a provision of direct purchase of agriculture produce, is being met with resistance from the strong lobby of commission agents and arhtiyas, says a senior official. This provision threatens to cut into the earnings of the agents. Even as the draft amendment is ready, the government is sleeping over it for the last several months. Officials say an estimated over Rs 1,000 crore of the Central grants are linked to the amendments that Punjab is supposed to make by March 31. States, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, have already amended the Act.

A Rs 500-crore aid from World Bank for farm initiatives, staggered for the next five years, will be made available once the amendments are made. Besides, a sum of Rs 250 crore for terminal markets is also dependent on this.

The state government will also get another Rs 65 crore from the Union Ministry of Agriculture for modernisation of agriculture markets if the Act is amended on the lines of the Model Act of 2003. "There have been so many cabinet meetings but this has never found priority on the agenda," a senior official rues. The state government is also mulling to set up a regulatory body to put to rest apprehensions over the fate of hundreds of its mandis facing threat from private players after the amendment.

There are concerns that these private players would initially woo farmers, but once there's a monopoly, their interest maybe put on the back burner, a senior official says, adding that the introduction of a regulator will enforce adequate checks and balances on the rules of the trade.