BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the monsoon session of the Assembly beginning September 18, the Opposition BJD on Monday staged a massive demonstration in front of the Raj Bhavan here to raise the problems faced by farmers due to the fertiliser crisis in the state.
While senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra and deputy leader of the Opposition Prasanna Acharya led the protest, some workers tried to break the barricades and enter the Raj Bhavan. They were stopped and repelled by the police.
A delegation of BJD leaders later submitted a memorandum to Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati seeking his intervention in resolving the crisis. Speaking to mediapersons, the BJD leaders alleged that the fertiliser scarcity had been affecting kharif cultivation in the state, leaving farmers distressed. “The failure of the government to streamline the supply system has aggravated the situation, leading to rampant black marketing of fertilisers. While the government has fixed the price of a 45 kg bag of fertiliser at Rs 242, it is being sold between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000,” they added.
However, Co-operation Minister Pradeep Bal Samanta said around 10.85 lakh tonne of fertilisers have been sold by last month compared to 8.5 lakh tonne during the same period last year. Around 1.8 lakh tonne fertiliser is currently available with the state government. “Sale of fertilisers has gone up as there has been an increase in area under paddy cultivation,” he said.