Govt implements Act to check black marketing of fertilisers

Raipur, September 07, 2011

The Agriculture Minister Chandrashekhar Sahu on Wednesday informed in the Vidhan Sabha that the government had implemented an Act to the check black marketing of fertilisers. His information came in the House when the Opposition attacked the government on scarcity of fertilisers in the cooperative societies and its black marketing.

He informed the House that the state had received insufficient amount of fertilisers from the Centre and hence the crisis occurred. He said the state government had sent its monthly fertiliser requirement to the Centre and hoped to bridge the widened gap between demand and supply.

The Congress legislator Nandkumar Patel raised the issue during call attention. He said black marketeers of fertiliser were active in the state and were not even hesitating in threatening the Agriculture officials. He pointed out that the department’s deputy director was intimidated by the black marketeers when he went to seal the illegal stock of fertilisers in Hardi in Lormi Vidhan Sabha constituency. He informed the House that urea was sold at the rate of Rs 400 per bag instead of Rs 281 (actual cost) in Takhatpur. Similarly, the farmers of Ambikapur are net getting fertilisers because the stocks of cooperative societies have been exhausted, he said.

The Congress MLA Ajit Jogi suggested that the government could come out avoid further embarrassment by obtaining fertilisers from the businessmen and giving it to the societies.

Another Opposition legislator Dr Shakrajeet Nayak expressed concern over scarcity of potash in societies while MLA Agni Chandrakar cited government quota fixation for fertilisers per acre as the major reason for black marketing.

The minister assured that the government would soon check black marketing of fertilisers and the farmers would receive it from the societies in cash. On action taken by the government against the black marketeers, he said teams had been constituted to prevent such trend. By far, FIR has been lodged against five persons who had stocked fertilisers illegally while shop licenses of ten people have been cancelled, he said.