Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko has demanded a probe into alleged irregularities in sale of urea in the interest of farmers.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Mr. Vaiko said urea bags contained lesser amount of the fertilizer than the actual quantity mentioned on them. Without properly measuring such bags, officials sent the bags for sale to farmers. There was even a shortfall of about two to three kg of urea in the bags. A 50-kg bag of urea was normally sold at Rs. 270, he said.
To meet the demands of farmers, 42,360 tonnes of urea was imported from Oman, and the consignment was received at V.O. Chidambaranar Port in Tuticorin in the recent past. The large quantity of urea was filled in bags with the assistance of Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation (Tanfed) and 80 per cent of the bagged urea was dispatched to Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies and remaining quantity to private dealers.
While a crackdown was launched by officials in Tirunelveli to check irregularities, similar checks should be conducted in shops selling Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO) urea in all districts. After conducting checks in 17 private urea shops and 36 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies in Tirunelveli recently, the authorities prevented those vendors from selling 360 tonnes of urea, he said.
