Centre depriving Bengal of legitimate demand of fertilisers: Minister

Centre depriving Bengal of legitimate demand of fertilisers: MinisterDecember 7, 2023Kolkata, Dec 7 (IANS) West Bengal Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhay on Thursday accused the Centre of ignoring the legitimate demand of the state government for supply of fertilisers. Participating in a discussion on the closing day of the winter session of the state Assembly, the minister said that the Union government has supplied only 75,000 tonnes of fertilisers against the state government’s demand for 5.73 lakh tonnes.At the same time, the Agriculture Minister claimed that despite such non-cooperation from the Union government, the average income of the farmers in the state has increased three times since 2011 as compared to what it was during the previous 35-year long Left Front rule.He also ruled out the allegations by the current BJP legislator and the former chief economic advisor to the Union government Ashok Kumar Lahiri’s allegations on the floor of the house on rampant black-marketing of fertilisers in West Bengal.”My department officials always keep a close vigil on the matter. They take strong actions on getting information about illegal hoarding of fertilisers,” the minister said.Participating in the debate, Water Resources Department Minister Manas Ranjan Bhuniyan said the stress is being given in the state on how solar energy and ground surface water can be used effectively to improve the irrigation system.–IANSsrc/vd