Friday, December 26, 2008
By Jawwad Rizvi
LAHORE: PUNJAB has offered 97 sites in various districts for Urea fertilizer sale to the federal government, The News has learnt here reliably. The federal government has assigned the National Fertilizer Corporation (NFC) to supply 50 per cent of total Urea through the government channels in order to ensure its availability and curb the black marketing.The Punjab agriculture department sites will be used for the purpose while extra staff will be deputed for administrative measures. The police help is also acquired for the sales of Urea fertilizers through the government channels. The agriculture department will only provide administrative support while the Utility Store Corporation staff will sell the fertilizers. The Punjab government has offered these sites in a bid to rectify the elements involved in malpractices in the Urea trade. On the other hand, the NFC has only 28 sites which are insufficient to ensure the urea supply through the government channels. So, the federal government has decided to seek the help of the Punjab government. An official of the federal ministry of industries revealed to The News that the government had not involved the Punjab government in money maters in the sale of Urea. The financial matters will be solved easily as both the NFC and USC come under the umbrella of the ministry of industries. If it involves the Punjab government in financial matters in the sales of Urea, it will create problems, he added. He further said the federal government needed the administrative support to achieve the target, therefore, the Punjab agriculture department sites would be used for the purpose. He said the Punjab agriculture department had infrastructure so the no extra financial burden would come on the federal government for the sale of urea through official channels. An official of the Punjab agriculture department said the Punjab had offered the administrative services free of cost to the centre in urea sales. He pointed out the farmers had been facing serious problems to get urea fertilizer which might hit the ambitious production target of wheat production. Thus it is also beneficial for the Punjab government to ensure urea availability of its farmers, he added.In the ongoing Rabi season, the farmers had been facing huge problems to get urea fertilizers likewise it had faced problem in getting the DAP fertilizer during Kharif season. The federal government is responsible for urea fertilizer shortage as the Punjab minister for agriculture Malik Ahmed Ali Aulkah had informed the federal government about urea fertilizers stocks positions and its requirements and expected shortage in the Federal Committee for Agriculture (FCA) meeting held at Islamabad two months ago. However, the federal government despite the mentioning by the Punjab agriculture minister had delayed the import of urea which further aggravated urea shortage.
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