Gujarat government suspends sale of fertilisers till Monday

Ahead of the kharif sowing season, the alleged fertiliser scandal has put State-run manufacturers, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GNFC) and Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GSFC) in a tight spot. A series of complaints from farmer groups and opposition Congress leaders has prompted the Gujarat government to suspend sale of fertilisers from the depots of the two fertiliser makers till Monday.

Over the past few days, the State government had received complaints from different parts of the State about underweight supply of the fertiliser i.e. 'Sardar DAP' (Di-Ammonium Phosphate) allegedly by GSFC. The 50-kg bag of the fertiliser was allegedly found to be short of weight by 400 -700 grams.

An official statement released from the State information department, stated that the Chief Secretary J N Singh "has ordered suspension of sale of fertilisers from the depots of the two companies and has asked the managing directors of both the companies to verify weight of the fertiliser bags at all their depots and video graph the process. They should begin sale of fertiliser from their depots only after satisfactorily completing the process."

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered a detailed probe into the incident.

Gujarat Congress State unit chief, Amit Chavda stated that the loss to the farmer is to the tune of Rs 14-40 per bag. "This is a big scam run by the State government through its state-owned fertiliser company. Nobody knows since when this has been going on," alleged Chavda, who conducted "janata" raids at a GSFC depot in Gandhinagar on Friday.

Meanwhile, GSFC issued an unsigned media statement admitting that "a shortage of up to 400 grams was found in few fertiliser bags sold from GNFC's Jetpur Depot. GSFC dispatches fertiliser bags with proper weight, which is done on the automatic weighing machines. However, an internal inquiry is set up for ascertaining the reasons of the shortage found in a few bags sold from Depots...GNFC is making immediate arrangement for installation of weighing machine at each depot so that farmers can procure fertilisers after ensuring weight of the bags," the GSFC statement said expressing regret on the "stray incidents of shortage".