Farmers’ ire in MP at the shortage of fertilizers has lately been hogging the headlines. However, an effort by a journalist to discover what has caused the shortage has revealed a shocking thing : for the last one month the state govt had been diverting most of fertilizers to private businessmen than to fertilizer cooperative societies.
As a result of it, farmers had to buy fertilisers from businessmen at a higher price. What farmers are actually paying is rip off and this explains why farmers are violently angry throughout Madhya Pradesh, a local cooperator was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, reports are coming in that the govt. has changed its distribution policy and begun offering only 30 percent of fetilisers through the private venders and the remaining 70 percent through the govt. outlets.
Sources say the flawed distribution policy pursued by the govt. earlier shows the existence of anti- farmer elements within the state administration. The whole scam therefore needs a thorough investigation , sources add.
