Centre not providing adequate fertiliser to state, says Mamata
Kolkata: Alleging that the Centre was not providing adequate fertiliser to Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, addressing the state Assembly on Wednesday, urged the Opposition to take up the issues with the central government to ensure sufficient supply of the same.
"The Central government is not providing the requisite fertiliser for agriculture, particularly for potato cultivation in the state. We have got only one-third of the requisition for fertilisers that we had sought. We had asked for 2.20 lakh MT (metric tonne) but received only 77000 MT. I will urge the Opposition to take up the matter with the Centre so that the wages related to 100 days workers are cleared and the supply of fertiliser for the farmers is ensured. The farmers are suffering because of the dearth of fertiliser," Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister added that she had written to the Union government thrice in May, then again in August and November for adequate fertilizer supply. She reiterated that fertiliser production is entirely controlled by the Centre and there is no such production in Bengal. "However, if supply continues to be inadequate then we have to devise means for production within the state," she added.
The BJP, however, alleged black marketing of fertiliser was rampant in the state. They brought an adjournment motion on the issue and demanded a discussion on the same. Speaker Biman Banerjee allowed BJP to read the motion on the floor but rejected the proposal for discussion on the ground that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already spoken on the issue.
The BJP legislators shouted slogans and then staged agitation outside the floor of the House.
Meanwhile, police arrested 44 state government employees on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting police personnel during a protest rally in front of the Assembly.
A group of state government employees marched towards the Assembly demanding immediate payment of the Dearness Allowance (DA). Due to the scuffle between the police and the state government employees, four policemen suffered injuries.
