More than 3,000 fertiliser centres were raided and licenses of more than 100 shop keepers suspended, after Uttar Pradesh agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi ordered an inspection drive to stamp out hoarding and black marketing of urea in the state.
The action was taken after farmers at UP’s Sadhan Sahkari Samiti centres complained of urea shortage. Officials on August 21 raided 3,119 fertiliser centres, suspending licenses of 158 shopkeepers while those of 15 were cancelled.
The two-day inspection drive is being carried out by senior officials of the state’s agriculture department in 18 zones. A total of 653 samples were collected during the raids at the fertiliser centres, while show cause notices were issued to 247 fertiliser vendors.
The department officials also issued warnings to 94 fertiliser vendors, while 15 fertiliser centres were slapped with sale restrictions. FIRs were lodged against two fertiliser vendors, while action was taken against 7 vendors for alleged urea tagging.
“The campaign has been launched across 18 zones to check hoarding and black marketing of fertilisers in the state. 19 officers of the level of Additional Director and Joint Director have also been instructed to conduct surprise inspections in the two districts allocated to each of them and to inspect the wholesalers and retailers of fertilisers, agencies and Sadhan Sahkari Samities,” Shahi said.
He stressed that there was no urea shortage in the state and said farmers should buy fertilisers as per their requirements. He added that two lakh metric tonnes of urea was available in the cooperative sector and orders had been issued to make it available for the farmers. “In districts where the demand for urea has increased, orders have been issued to make it available to the farmers by releasing up to 50 per cent urea for the Sadhan Sahkari Samitis,” the minister said. He announced the government’s decision to provide IFFCO and KRIBHCO urea fertilisers to the cooperatives, UP State Agro, Agri Junctions, IFFDC, IFFCO e-Bazar and other institutions besides the Ganna Sangh.
Shahi personally reviewed the situation in the districts of Barabanki, Basti and Ayodhya and instructed the district magistrates of Sitapur, Sonbhadra and Varanasi to address the fertiliser problems of the farmers. He said the actual consumers be identified and fertilisers be made available to them on the basis of individual holdings.
Earlier, talking to reporters, the minister said he had instructed the officials to ensure immediate provision of QR code to facilitate cashless sale of fertilisers. Sale of fertilisers to farmers would be made available only in accordance with the agricultural land and crop-wise recommended quantity in their holdings to check indiscriminate use of costly fertilisers and its misuse for works other than agriculture, he said.
