No supply shortage, fertilizer black marketing in Bihar tormenting farmers: Union minister

Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba on Friday accused the Bihar government of creating artificial fertilizer crisis in the state and allowing black marketing despite adequate and regular supply from the Centre.

Talking to reporters here along with Bihar state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, Khuba said,“He (CM Nitish Kumar) should not try to mislead the farmers. I urge the farmers not to pay even a penny extra, as the Narendra Modi government is giving heavy subsidy on fertilisers for the benefit of farmers, not for hoarders and black marketeers to cash in on the artificial crisis. Distribution requires the cooperation of the state government. Even Bihar cooperative minister recently admitted the truth of black marketing and hoarding and it was published in newspapers,” he said.

However, Bihar’s agriculture minister Sudhakar Singh alleged that the union minister was mixing up supplies during kharif and rabi seasons to present increased availability, which is away from reality. “Statistics say that the fertilizer supply during kharif season, from April to September, clearly points to shortage, especially during the peak season of June, July and August,” he said.

Earlier this week, Singh, who is from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the largest constituent of the ruling alliance in Bihar, had kicked off a storm, saying there was rampant corruption in his department. The minister has remained defiant even after CM Kumar’s intervention.

State’s cooperative minister Surendra Yadav, also from RJD, had also recently said that black marketing of fertilizers was rampant in Bihar and even he was denied a fertilizer bag. “I am also a farmer. I got the urea bag the first time, but the second time, my request was turned down,” he had said.

The union minister said the integrated financial management system (IFMS) portal has real-time data about the supply and availability of fertilizers for every state, including Bihar. “”It also reflects the sale of fertilizers the previous day for total transparency. Despite problems on the international front and rising prices, the Centre has maintained supply at the old cost and the benefits should reach the farmers. The subsidy on fertilizers has been almost doubled to ₹2.5 lakh crore this year from ₹1.29 lakh crore. This has been done to save farmers from extra burden, but black marketing in the state was hurting them. If the problem is inside Bihar, the state government should try to set it right and not resort to blame game,“ he said.

Under the fertilizer direct benefits transfer (DBT) system, 100% subsidy on various fertilizers is released to the fertilizer companies on the basis of actual sales made by the retailers to the beneficiaries. Sale of all subsidized fertilizer to farmers/buyers is made through point of sale (PoS) devices installed at each retailer shop and the beneficiaries are identified through Aadhaar Card, KCC, Voter Identity Card etc.