BHOPAL: A 58-year-old tribal woman, Bhuriya Bai Saharia, sleeping outside a fertilizer distribution centre, after not getting urea fertilizer for two consecutive days, died on the intervening night of Wednesday-Thursday in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh.
The tragic incident happened just a few hours after the local MP and union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, had arrived in his constituency.
Bhuriya Bai belonged to the Saharia tribe, one of the three particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) residing in MP.
According to her relatives, she had first lined up at the fertilizer distribution centre in Bageri village on Tuesday, but had to return empty handed to her village, located around 20 km away.
She reportedly lined up again at the centre on Wednesday, but couldn’t get the fertilizer yet again. Instead of returning home, she stayed back like others and slept outside the centre on Wednesday night, hoping that she would be among the first ones on Thursday morning to get the fertilizer from the centre.
However, she fell ill while sleeping outside the centre.
Her relatives said that they called an ambulance, which never came. Later another farmer rushed her in his private vehicle to the health centre in Bamori.
With her condition deteriorating, she was referred by doctors to Guna city, where she died at the hospital in the early hours.
According to Guna district collector Kishor Kanyal, “She was already ill and didn’t know that her blood sugar level was as high as 450. She was admitted to hospital, where she died.”
“We’re repeatedly telling people not to panic as there is no need to stay back in the night outside the distribution centres. There is no shortage of urea, since we’re daily getting 30-35 trucks of urea. In the last 55 days, 30,000 MT urea has been distributed in our district and there is adequate availability of fertilizer presently,” Kanyal said.
“We are likely to get one more rake of urea in the next few days,” he added.
Scindia also confirmed that there is no shortage of fertilisers.
“I’ve asked the Guna district collector to increase the number of distribution counters in the double lock centres. We still have 15,000 MT fertilizer. There isn’t need to panic, as a regular supply of fertilizer is being maintained,” he said.
“I’m monitoring from Delhi, the availability of fertilizer for all three districts, Guna, Shivpuri and Ashoknagar. There is also a need to gradually shift from chemical fertilizers to organic farming for sustainable agriculture.”
The opposition and ruling party MLAs, both questioned the government claims of sufficient fertilizer availability in Guna.
“If there is sufficient fertilizer available, then why are farmers lining up at the centres and even sleeping outside the centres in the night,” Congress MLA from Bamori (Guna) Rishi Agrawal questioned.
At a public event in Guna city on Thursday, the second-time BJP MLA Pannalal Shakya raised the issue from the stage of event where Scindia too was present.
“The woman died while yearning for fertilizer in the night hours. The district collector is sitting here, let him answer me, if your system is functioning properly why are the lines of farmers visible outside the distribution centres.," Shakya questioned.
We want a reply, if not here, we’ll get it in the coming Vidhan Sabha session,” he added.