Uproar in Chhattisgarh assembly over fertilizer, seed shortages, power cuts

Raipur, Jul 23 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh assembly witnessed noisy scenes on Tuesday as the Congress claimed farmers were suffering difficulties in the ongoing kharif season due to frequent power cuts and shortages of seeds and fertilizers.

The main opposition party demanded a discussion on the issue by moving an adjournment motion notice.

As the Speaker rejected the demand, Congress MLAs trooped into the well of the House and were suspended.

Raising the issue in the Zero Hour, former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and other Congress members said the BJP government had failed to ensure adequate supply of fertilizers, seeds and electricity.

Farmers were demanding DAP 18:46 fertilizer but the distribution centers were forcing indebted farmers to buy other fertilizers, Baghel alleged.

A notice put up at district cooperative banks said that in view of the shortage of DAP 18:46, SSP and NPK fertilizers should be used, he claimed.

Even these alternative fertilizers were not available in sufficient quantity, the former CM said.

There were complaints of substandard fertilizers and seeds from districts such as Kabirdham, Bemetara, Mungeli and Rajnandgaon but no action was being taken against the sellers, he claimed.

Due to low rainfall, demand for electricity to run irrigation pumps has increased but there were frequent power cuts, Congress MLAs claimed.

Paddy crop was seriously affected due to the shortage of fertilizers, seeds and unscheduled power cuts, they alleged, demanding a discussion on the adjournment motion notice.

Agriculture Minister Ramvichar Netam, however, said that against the total demand of 13.68 lakh metric tons of chemical fertilizers, 14.05 LMT fertilizers were in stock, of which, 10.28 LMT has been distributed as of July 22.

Last year, during the same period, 9.63 LMT of fertilizers was distributed, he claimed.

Against the demand of 3.40 LMT of DAP, so far 2.35 LMT has been distributed to farmers while 48,523 MT DAP is in stock, he further said.

In view of low supply of DAP from the Centre, the state government was encouraging farmers to use SSP and NPK, the minister added.

As to seeds, the minister denied that the supply was adequate.

Of 5,065 seed samples sent to laboratories for quality testing, only 137 samples were found to be substandard. Similarly, 338 samples of pesticides were sent to the laboratory, out of which only 25 samples were found to be substandard, Netam said.

A total of 3,469 samples of fertilizers were sent for examination and of them, 1460 samples were analyzed. Only 24 samples (of the 1460 analyzed) were found to be substandard, he said, adding that the state government was making every possible effort to ensure quality.

After Netam's reply, Speaker Raman Singh disallowed the adjournment motion notice.

But Opposition MLAs continued to raise their demand and trooped into the well, and were automatically suspended as per the rules. The suspension was later revoked. PTI TKP KRK