Taking a serious note of the Congress-led UPA Government’s failure to develop, expand or revamp existing fertiliser manufacturing units, resulting in fall in production, Shiromani Akali Dal president and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Monday said that this had led to an outgo of Rs79,743 crore by way of subsidy.
Quoting figures of a draft note of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the fertiliser sector, Sukhbir said that the UPA Government had failed to increase production, which resulted in import of 475.29 lakh tonnes of fertilisers during last nine years and an outgo of Rs79,743 crore by way of subsidies.
“Instead of taking some concrete steps to increase production, the Congress-led UPA Government opted for transferring this burden on the poor peasantry by decontrolling the fertiliser sector,” he said.
Sukhbir said that subsidy could be saved and used for the farmers of the country if the UPA Government had assured supply of natural gas on a long-term basis to the fertiliser industry, revamped pipeline connectivity and ensured investment and modernisation of fertiliser plants to increase production.
He alleged that after creating this mess in the fertiliser sector, the UPA Government was covering up its failure by transferring the burden of this loss to the already burdened and debt-ridden farmers.
“The agriculture sector is subsidised all over the world but the UPA Government is hell-bent upon squeezing even the last drop of blood of peasantry with series of anti-farmer measures,” he further alleged.
Punjab, which has only 1.54 per cent of the country's geographical area, contributes nearly 60 per cent of the food grains to the national kitty.