Following the strict directions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian to ensure the use of subsidized urea in Punjab for agriculture purposes only, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, SAS Nagar confiscated 235 bags (45 kg each) of urea stocked illegally.
Divulging details, Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Gurmel Singh said on receiving the information from farmers of village Chatoli, fertilizer inspector Gurpreet Singh ADO informed the higher authorities about the illegal and suspicious stock of urea. It was also informed over the phone by the farmers that a plywood industry has illegally stocked urea in a room adjacent to the tubewell of a farmer of village Chatoli.
Acting swiftly on this information, a team under the leadership of the District Chief Agriculture Officer along with a police party visited the site and found that about 235 bags of urea for agricultural use were stored in the room in an unauthorized manner. The stock of urea lying on the site has been seized by the police station Sadar, Kurali and samples have also been collected by the Agriculture Department for testing the fertilizer for further action. This urea was manufactured by Chambal Fertilizer, the arrival of its stock in the district is being investigated by the department.
According to the Chief Agriculture Officer, since these bags were clearly mentioned for agricultural use only, action was taken on the basis of ‘Diversion of use of Urea’ under Section 27 of the Fertilizer Control Act on the suspicion of commercial use. Apart from this, a complaint has been filed with the police against the concerned person for cheating the farmers by using the subsidised urea for commercial use.
The Chief Agriculture Officer has also given directions to all the staff of the district that regular checking should be done regarding the stock and sale of urea with the fertilizer sellers under their jurisdiction and daily reporting should be done without fail. Agriculture Officer Shubkaran Singh, Agriculture Development Officer Jaswinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh were part of the team of the Agriculture Department.