In the direction of strengthening the Lamps-Pacs and other Cooperatives for distribution of Urea, the State Government will give a working capital of up to Rs 5 lakh to each selected Cooperative society at the block level and separately give working capital of up to Rs 1.5-2 lakhs on the Panchayat level so that the target of 50 per cent participation of Cooperative societies in Urea distribution can be achieved.
The State Agriculture Minister, Badal said this through a video conferencing meeting with Deputy Commissioners of Palamu and Hazaribagh divisions.
During the discussion on various points of Urea, Agriculture Minister Badal said that Urea retail and wholesale traders have received complaints about arbitrary and overcharging of fixed price which is a matter of concern. He said that the complaints of large retailers of Urea are being received through various means, that along with giving Urea at a higher price to the farmers, non-subsidized goods like Calcium, Zinc and others are being sold along with which the farmers faced problems.
Badal, taking cognizance of the complaint of Hussainabad MLA, Kamlesh Singh, Garhwa MLA Bhanupratap Shahi and MLA Amba Prasad ordered the Deputy Commissioners of the concerned district to investigate.
It has also directed to take action on such wholesale sellers of fertilizer who are selling urea at a price higher than the prescribed price.
Badal ordered that in every district, it should be ensured that farmers are not forced to buy non-subsidized items with subsidized items.
Badal said that to prevent black marketing of Urea, prepare an enforcement mechanism as well as ensure that there is a proportionate distribution of Urea between Lamp-Packs in the border areas which are connected to Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and others. He said that no businessmen should take advantage of black marketing of Urea under the guise of PACS, take care of it by taking care of it. In other districts of the State, the work of mapping the rack points can be done immediately so that transportation expenses can be reduced. Disbursement of Urea through e-POSH and take action against licensees who black market Urea and sell at higher rates than prescribed rates. In each district, flying squad should be constituted for this and investigated.
The Agriculture Minister said that there will be no shortage of Urea from next year because Sindri and two other plants are also being started. He said that transportation cost increases because of the low availability of rack points.
Therefore, an action plan should be chalked out for the planning of rack point construction in Bokaro, Dhanbad and Giridih. He also directed to prepare guidelines for transportation and lifting rates, which are not prescribed.
The review meeting was attended by the Secretary Agriculture Department, Abu Baqr Siddiqui, Director, Manoj Kumar and Deputy Commissioner of several districts, District Agricultural Officers.