CM Revanth Reddy urges Centre to supply urea allocated to Telangana

Hyderabad, July 8 (IANS) With Telangana currently witnessing a shortage of fertilisers, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday met Union Minister for Fertilisers and Chemicals J.P. Nadda in Delhi and requested him to supply the urea allocated to Telangana on time to meet the agricultural needs during the farming season.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister brought to the notice of the Union Minister that only 3.07 lakh tonnes of Urea was supplied between April and June as against the requirement of 5 lakh metric tonnes in the Kharif season.

As the farming activity is in full swing and the projects are receiving abundant inflows in the state, CM Revanth Reddy appealed to the Union Minister to ensure that there is no disruption in the supply of urea.

The Chief Minister brought to the notice of the Union Minister that 63,000 tonnes of domestically produced urea and 97,000 metric tonnes of imported urea were to be supplied to the state for the month of July, but the Centre supplied only 29,000 tonnes of urea so far.

The Chief Minister also requested Nadda to enhance the quota of domestically produced urea for Telangana and increase the number of rakes for urea supply in the wake of the reluctance of the Railways to consider the demand for more rakes.

The shortage of urea during the ongoing farming season has triggered anger among farmers in parts of the state.

The urea shortage in the state has threatened farming activity during the Kharif season. The shortage has resulted in the price of urea rising to Rs 325 per 45-kg bag against the subsidised rate of Rs 266.50 to Rs 268.

Meanwhile, Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao has demanded an investigation into the fertiliser shortage.

He asked the Congress government to explain to farmers why there is a statewide shortage of 1.94 lakh. “Why has the price of a sack of urea, which should be Rs 266.50, now become Rs 325? This should be explained not just to farmers but to all the people of the state,” he said.

KTR wanted to know why the government is unable to give the farmer even a sack of fertiliser, even after making Aadhaar cards mandatory.

The BRS leader alleged that the government failed to implement Rythu Bharosa or waive farm loans. Even if farmers take loans for farming, there is a shortage of fertilisers.

--IANS

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