Opposition parties charge AP govt on fertilizer shortage

Hyderabad, Sep 1 (UNI) The Opposition Telugu Desam Party, Left parties and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) today charged the Congress government with remaining ''indifferent'' to the problem of ''acute'' shortage of fertilizers, even as the ruling Congress party urged other parties not to politicise the issue in the interest of farmers.

Participating in a short duration discussion in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, TDP MLA D Narendra Kumar contended that the Congress government had not woke up even after farmers' state-wide stirs for fertilizers.

Farmers were not getting remunerative price for their produce as Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had failed to keep his promise of constituting a Rs 500 crore market stabilisation fund, he said.

While the Madhya Pradesh and Punjab governments had acted with foresight by procuring the required quantity of fertilizers ahead of agriculture season, the Andhra Pradesh government had not placed fertilizer purchase orders in April, resulting in scramble for fertilizers during the Khariff season, TRS Floor leader E Rajender claimed.

CPI(M) Floor leader N Narasimhaiah alleged that the government was trying to ''bury'' the issue under the carpet even after the Economic Survey had stated that there was a shortage of 30 lakh tonnes of fertilizers in the country. He said he was ready to visit any village selected by Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy to prove that there was acute shortage of fertilizers.

The state was also facing shortage of power and diesel as the government remained clueless to overcome the situation, he added.

CPI Floor leader Ch Venkata Reddy wanted to know why the government had constituted an official committee if there was no shortage of fertilizers as claimed by it.

Congress member Raghunatha Raju asked the Opposition parties not to do a disservice to farmers by politicising the issue.

Urging them to cooperate with the government, which was doing all that was required to overcome the problem, he said farmers would be forced to resort to panic buying if they instigated them.

UNI SM VA JT HT1722