Oppn BJD, Cong Target Odisha Govt Over 'Fertiliser Crisis' In State

(MENAFN- IANS) Bhubaneswar, Sep 1 (IANS) The opposition Biju Janata Dal and the Congress on Monday targeted the Mohan Charan Majhi-led Odisha government over the alleged ongoing shortage of fertiliser across the state.

Senior BJD leader and party vice president Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak on Monday alleged that the state government is misleading the farmers amidst the severe short-supply of fertilizer in the state.

Addressing a press conference, Nayak also asserted that the BJP-led state government has failed completely to provide Urea fertiliser to the farmers of Odisha.

That is why the farmers are on the streets and the black marketers are being sponsored by the government agencies.

He asserted that BJD has always been with the farmers and if the state government fails to address the woes of farmers properly the opposition BJD would be forced to resort to agitation.

Amid the allegations of shortage of fertiliser, the state government has claimed that there is a sufficient quantity of fertiliser available in the state.

The department also requested the farmers not to be scared by any misleading information showing artificial shortage of fertilizer in the state.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has reviewed the situation but it has not yet solved the problems faced by the farmers of the state.

The BJD leader demanded that the state cooperation department and MARKFED make public the official allocation and lifting figures of fertiliser.

“Transparency in data will expose who is misleading farmers. Since, during the last 11 years, Odisha has never faced a crisis in fertiliser supply,” Nayak said.

Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Bhakta Charan Das on Monday alleged a massive fertilizer crisis in the state, accusing the ruling BJP of allowing black marketing and hoarding at the cost of farmers.

Das said fertiliser black marketing has been rampant for the past 11 years, forcing farmers to purchase essential supplies at inflated prices from the black market.

“This year, the crisis surfaced much earlier because earning profits from farmers has become an easy business,” he alleged.

The PCC chief further accused the BJP of making huge profits from both paddy procurement and fertiliser hoarding.

“During paddy procurement, over Rs 2,000 crore was siphoned off in just 10–15 days, and now thousands of crores are being looted through fertiliser hoarding,” he said.

It is pertinent here to mention that ex-CM and Leader of Opposition, Naveen Patnaik has recently written a letter to the union minister for Chemicals and fertiliser, J.P. Nadda drawing his attention towards the fertiliser crisis in the state.

“Short-supply of urea along with its black marketing and adulteration, is a major concern for our farmers now in the start of the Kharif season. In many districts particularly in tribal districts, the farmers are on an agitation path due to non-availability of urea,” wrote Patnaik.

He had alleged that MARKFED, the government's designated distribution agency, is supplying subsidised fertilisers to private traders instead of farmers.

He claimed that supply chain mismanagement and corruption have pushed the farmers in Odisha to the edge.

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