Jaipur, Aug 18 (PTI) Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday claimed that farmers were facing a shortage of fertilisers in several districts of the state despite adequate stocks in government warehouses.
Targeting the BJP governments at the Centre and in Rajasthan, Gehlot said how they could claim to be farmer-friendly when they could not ensure fertilisers stocked in their own warehouses reached farmers.
“More than three lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers is lying in warehouses, while farmers are returning empty-handed even after standing in queues for hours,” the senior Congress leader said.
Gehlot said a weak monsoon had already resulted in Kharif sowing falling 14.88 lakh hectares short of the target and claimed that the remaining crops were now at risk due to non-availability of fertilisers.
He said both the Centre and the state government were claiming that adequate stocks were available, but farmers in Bharatpur and several other districts were still struggling to obtain fertilisers.
“This is not negligence, but organised loot. Shopkeepers and societies are deliberately creating an artificial shortage and indulging in black marketing,” Gehlot alleged.
The former chief minister claimed that people were alleging that a bag of urea priced at Rs 266 was being sold to farmers for as much as Rs 500 and fertilisers meant for the agriculture sector were being diverted to industries. PTI SDA RT RT RT
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