Imphal: Replying to a calling attention motion by MLAs K. Ranjit Singh and Surjakumar Okram on the reported difficulties faced by farmers due to the non-availability of fertilizers(urea) in Manipur, Agriculture Minister Oinam Lukhoi Singh clarified that the fertilizer requirement of the state is actually 5,50,000 bags out of which the Centre has already allocated 4,40,000 bags, so there is a stock gap of about 1,10,000 bags at present.
A total of about 3,14,000 bags of fertilizer have been received currently by the Agriculture Department of the state.
Minister Lukhoi further stated that the actual price of the fertilizer is about Rs.650 per bag while the Government has approved to distribute the fertilizers at a subsidized rate of Rs. 266.04 per bag. As per the Government rules and guidelines laid down by the Point of Sale (POS) portal, documents like AADHAR card, land patta, price value of land etc are required for getting access to fertilizers by the farmers, he added.
Acquiring fertilizers by logging in through the Point of Sale (POS) portal is indeed a time-consuming exercise and this formal process creates problems to the farmers, he explained. He also stated that farmers cannot violate the rules and guidelines laid down in the portal.
Minister Lukhoi clarified that the cost of transportation including loading-unloading charges is around Rs. 100.80 per fertilizer bag. So a total of about Rs. 8 to 9 crores are borne by the Agriculture Department for just transportation charges of the fertilizers alone. Plan is in the pipeline for mobile distribution of fertilizers to farmers in different districts through concerned DCs, District Agriculture Officers (DAOs), elected members and CSOs. He further assured that he will look into the matter if there is any hindrance in the availability of fertilizers in areas like Kumbi etc.
On the matter of politicization in the distribution of fertilizers to the different hill-valley districts of Manipur, Agriculture Minister clarified that the Agriculture Department works transparently and there is no such issue of vested interests and black-marketing. Apart from agriculture purposes, fertilizers are also used in fish farming, he added.
He also said that the government actually grants about 45 kg fertilizer per sangam instead of 30 kg as per the department’s guidelines keeping in view the welfare of the farmers. About 1,87,181 fertlilizer bags have been distributed so far as on August 12, 2021 and around 32,060 bags are in stock(at hand) to be distributed to all the districts of the state. So altogether a total of about 2,19,240 bags are allocated by the government for farmers of all the districts.
Later, the House led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh unanimously passed The Lainingthou Sanamahi Temple (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021(Bill No.19 of 2021) and the Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021(Bill No.24 of 2021).
House also passed The Manipur Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Third Amendment) Bill, 2021(Bill No.20 of 2021) and The Manipur Goods and Services Tax(Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2021(Bill No.21 of 2021) moved by Finance Minister Yumnam Joykumar.
House also passed The Manipur Legislature (Removal of Disqualifications) (Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2021(Bill No.18 of 2021), The Manipur (Courts) (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Bill No.23 of 2021) and The Manipur Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021(Bill No.22 of 2021) moved by Law & Legislative Affairs, Labour & Employment Minister Th. Satyabrata Singh.
