UPA partisan in urea supply to Rajasthan : BJP

Jaipur, Dec 25 (UNI) The BJP government here today alleged that the UPA regime at the Centre was being ''partisan'' in providing the requisite urea supply to the state, despite several requests to the concerned ministries.

At press conference here, PWD minister Rajendra Singh Rathore said although the BJP government had requested for 8.50 lakh metric tonne DAP and urea, well in advance for the Rabi crop this season, only 4.89 lakh metric tonne has been received till now, spelling trouble for the state's farmers.

Despite Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje writing several letters to all concerned ministries including fertiliser minister Ram Vilas Paswan, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and railways minister Lalu Prasad for supply of DAP and urea, the UPA government has failed to take any steps in this direction,'' he said.

With good rains in large parts of Rajasthan and high irrigation water level in most dams and reservoirs, the state government had estimated that the area under cultivation under Rabi this year will increase considerably, Mr Rathore said, adding that with inadequate supply of urea, the farmers are facing immense difficulties.

Out of the recieved amount of urea, only 15,000 metric tonnes are left, with the rest all have been distributed among the farmers,'' he said.

He charged that former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had not taken any steps to increase or get the requisite urea supply for the state but the Congress is ''only crying hoarse'' that BJP is not concerned about the welfare of the farmers.

State agriculture minister Prabhu Lal Saini said the area under Rabi cultivation during the BJP rule in the past three years had increased to 89 lakh hectares from the 62 lakh hectare during the Congress' tenure.

UNI RRT VD KN1637