Must probe into ‘diverted subsidised urea’: Cong MLA hits out at AAP for cheating farmers
Subsidised urea belongs to farmers, not industries. Diverting it for profiteering is a betrayal of Punjab’s backbone,” he said.
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Punjab Congress MLA Pargat Singh. (Express Archives: Kamleshwar Singh)Congress MLA and AICC Secretary Pargat Singh has demanded a full investigation into the alleged scam of diverting subsidised urea, meant for Punjab’s farmers, to factories and industries and accused the AAP government of cheating farmers. “The Congress will not allow farmers to be cheated in this manner.
Subsidised urea belongs to farmers, not industries. Diverting it for profiteering is a betrayal of Punjab’s backbone,” he said.
While technical-grade industrial urea receives no subsidy, the Congress MLA said, agricultural-grade urea is subsidised, making it lucrative for industries to divert illegally. He demanded strict action against creating artificial shortages to mint money from the industry and harassing the farmers. He also reminded that Punjab’s farmers are already reeling from flood damage, crop loss and livestock deaths.
“At a time when floods have devastated farmers’ fields, denying them subsidised urea and forcing them to buy it at black-market rates is adding insult to injury. The AAP government must order an immediate girdawari (crop loss survey) and compensate affected farmers without delay.”
He said that while subsidised agricultural-grade urea is meant to be distributed to farmers at the official rate of ?275 per bag of 45kg, farmers are forced to purchase several non-required chemicals to get urea and they end up paying 3–4 times the price, due to artificial shortages and black marketing.
The Congress MLA also alleged that the state has failed to ensure the fair distribution of urea to farmers. Instead, urea is being illegally supplied to industries, where it is used in plywood, adhesives, cattle feed and chemical processes.
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