Yeddy blames Centre for inadequate supply of fertilisers
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
BANGALORE, Jul 13: With farmers up in arms against the BJP government over the shortage of fetilisers for the second consecutive year, Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has urged the Centre to rush adequate quantity of fertilisers to the state in view of the inadequate allotment and supply of urea, complex and muriate of potash (MoP) fertilizers resulting in hardships to farmers during the present khariff season.
In separate letters to union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and chemicals and fertilisers minister M K Azhagiri, Yeddyurappa said the Centre had allocated 93,500 tonnes of urea and the actual supply till July 12 was only 48,048 tonnes against the state’s total requirement of 1,70,000 tonnes of urea as a top-dressing fertilizer for the month of July.
``This shortage has resulted in panic among farmers besides creating law and order problems in some districts,’’ he said urging the Centre to continuously monitor and ensure adequate supply of required fertilisers to the state to avoid worsening of the situation.
He pointed out that the Centre had allocated 45,400 tonnes of complex fertilisers and 17,500 tonnes of MoP against the requirement of 1,24,000 tonnes of complex fertilizers and 54,000 tonnes of in MoP respectively for this month, which was grossly inadequate.
Karnataka received good rains in May and early June and farmers had taken up early sowing of crops such as pulses, hybrid maize, soyabean, groundnut, hybrid jowar and cotton. These crops were 40-45 days old and rains continue to lash Chitradurga, Davangere, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Shimoga districts, he said.
The shortage of fertilisers in the state and unrest among farmers on account of the non-availability of fertilisers for the kharif season figured prominently in the state legislature on Monday with Congress opposition leader in the assembly Siddaramaiah seeking to move an adjournment motion on the issue in the house.
In his preliminary submissions on the admissibility of the adjournment motion in the house, Siddaramaiah accused the government of failing to distribute 2.13 lakh tonnes of fertilizer released by the Centre during June and July, which affected agricultural operations leading to widespread anger among farmers.
The government had sought 8 lakh tonnes of fertilisers for 70 lakh hectare of agricultural land. The Union Government allocated 4 lakh tonnes and released 2.13 lakh tones, he said attacking the chief minister for trying to score ``political brownie points’’ by wrongly accusing the Centre of step-motherly treatment by not releasing the fertilizers while agriculture minister S A Ravindranath had claimed that there was no shortage of fertilisers in the State.
Farmers in Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Gulbarga and other districts had not yet commenced sowing and the government could have despatched the available fertilisers, including urea, available with it to Haveri, Shimoga and Davangere districts if it was really interested in helping them, he said.
Siddaramaiah said the government had not learnt any lesson from the farmers’ agitation in Haveri last year in which two persons were killed in police firing. The chief minister had at one time commended the Centre for increasing grants to the State by 35% in its budget and now was faulting it with an ``ulterior political motive.’’
CONGRESS SEEKS JUDICIAL PROBE IN MYSORE COMMUNAL CLASHES: Meanwhile, the opposition Congress party demanded a judicial inquiry into communal clashes in Mysore city and alleged that the Intelligence failure and the police inaction were major causes for the trouble.
Siddaramaiah, who initiated a discussion on the communal clashes and police excesses in Mysore since July 2, wanted to knew the reasons for the clashes, which claimed three lives and injured several people. ``I welcome a CBI probe into clashes. The government must at least order a judicial probe to bring out the truth and punish the culprits,’’ he demanded.
Withdrawal of police forces stationed at Kyathamaranhalli in Mysore a day before the incident and the failure of the Home Department to deploy sufficient number of police forces led to the incident. Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik had instigated the violence, he alleged contending that the clashes could have been prevented if the government had taken steps to maintain law order after the minor incident in the city on April 2 and 3, he said.
The former deputy chief minister said the Huliyamma temple authorities at Kyathamaranhalli had been opposing the construction of a school and a mosque by a Muslim Education Trust stating that construction of the mosque might disrupt communal harmony in the area. The Trust purchased the land and obtained building plan approval from the Mysore City Corporation a few days ago.
``There was no land dispute between the temple and the Trust. Some anti-social elements threw the carcass of a pig in front of the site where the mosque was proposed to be constructed, which led to communal clashes,’’ he said.
It is unfortunate that the police had not arrested the culprits who were responsible for the incidents even after 10 days, Siddaramaiah said demanding that chief minister and home Mmnister V S Acharya should own the responsibility and order the juridical probe into the incidents. A few days later, activists of Popular Front of India defied ban orders and staged a protest opposing arrest of innocent people, which Siddaramaiah claimed was a clear indication of the failure of Intelligence.