Chandigarh, September 7
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has strongly condemned Captain Amarinder Singh’s decision to allow private dealers to sell 50 percent DAP fertilizer in Punjab and termed the decision as anti-farmer and anti-cooperative agricultural societies. Criticising the decision, AAP Punjab Kisan Wing state president and MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that Captain Amarinder Singh was taking anti-farmer decisions at the behest of his boss Prime Minister Narendra Modi; as part of a conspiracy to harass the struggling farmers.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Tuesday, Kultar Singh Sandhwan alleged, “Captain Amarinder Singh is ruining the cooperatives in Punjab by following the path laid down by the Union government. Therefore, the right to supply (distribution) of DAP fertilizer by the Cooperative Agricultural Societies has been reduced by 30 percent and the supply to private dealers has been increased to 50 percent.” He said the Congress government was deliberately creating a ‘fertilizer mafia’ by handing over DAP fertilizer to private dealers. “This decision of the government would not only increase the black market of fertilizers but also further plunder the farmers,” added Sandhwan.
The AAP leader further said that the Punjab government was not serious about the deepening crisis of DAP fertilizer in Punjab due to which the farmers might face severe difficulties in the coming wheat sowing season. Sandhwan said Punjab needs 4.80 lakh tonnes of fertilizer for wheat sowing and other purposes whereas till September; Punjab has stock of only 75,000 tonnes of DAP fertilizer. “It is astonishing that till September, Punjab has demanded only 1.5 lakh tonnes of DAP fertilizer from the Centre; when they are aware that Punjab needs more than three times that amount of fertilizer,” he added.
Kultar Singh Sandhwan said it was clear that the government itself wants to benefit the fertilizer mafia by creating a shortage of fertilizer in Punjab. He said the decision to give more leeway to private vendors in the matter of sale of DAP fertilizer was taken by the Agriculture Department headed by Captain Amarinder Singh himself; which proves that Captain Amarinder Singh, following in the footsteps of Modi is harassing the farmers. Sandhwan demanded that the Captain government should restore the right of 80 percent fertilizer supply to the cooperative agricultural societies and provide the required DAP fertilizer for the sowing of wheat.
