Jammu, Nov 6: BJP Kissan Morcha State President and MLA from Marh Constituency Choudhary Sukhnandan Friday alleged that either the Agriculture Minister is being provided wrong information by the Agriculture Department and Co-operatives or he is having knowledge of black marketing of fertilizers and is misleading the poor farmers of Jammu region by stating that there is no shortage of fertilizers and the godowns are filled and there is no one to lift them for distribution among the farmers.
Addressing media persons Sukhnandan said that he has authentic proof that a number of dealers from Jammu province have deposited huge sums amounting to lakhs of rupees with a number of government agencies like JAKFED, Agro Industries Development Corporation, Himalayan Trading Co-operative Marketing Limited and Jammu Kashmir Farmers’ Co-operative Limited during the last two months and not even a single bag of fertilizers has been released to them for sale to the needy farmers.
Sukhnandan said that just two days ago he himself had brought the matter of shortage of fertilizers into the notice of the Agriculture Minister and the Minister’s reply was that there is no shortage and the godowns are full of fertilizers. He said it is indeed a serious matter that there is no one in the department who has any concern for the problems of the farmers.
The MLA asked the Agriculture Minister to explain as to why the dealers who have deposited lakhs of rupees with the government agencies have to wait for months together for delivery of fertilizers if there is no shortage. “If one trusts the minister over what he is saying, then there seems a nexus between the black marketers and the officials of the Agriculture department, which is again a serious matter,” he said.
BJP leader, while providing details of few dealers who have deposited huge sums for fertilizers and have not been delivered a single bag till date, asked the Agriculture Minister to order a high level inquiry to look into the serious matter.
“The issue needs a thorough probe as there are contradictions between what the minister claims and the ground realities,” BJP MLA said. He appealed the Chief Minister to personally interfere into the matter and take effective measures to give respite to the farmers in this sowing season.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 6 Nov 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 IST