Cracking whip on fertilizer selling outlets, SAS Nagar Agriculture Department has suspended licenses of four dealers after alleged irregularities in distribution of urea in the district, said Deputy Commissioner (DC) Girish Dayalan.
Under the Centre’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) on fertilizers scheme, sale of fertilizers was mandated with the use of biometric identification of farmer on the point of sale (POS) machines. Due to the pandemic, the biometric authentication of farmer on PoS was suspended.
“Taking undue advantage of the situation, some firms were reported to have diverted the subsidised fertilizer”, informed the DC.
“Officers of District Agriculture Department were directed to conduct random checks and monitor sale of urea. It was found that 8 dealers had made bulk purchases. Detailed enquiry revealed that four out of the eight dealers had recorded fake sales entries of the urea sold. The purchase verification from farmers showed that they had made no purchase and the fertilizer sellers had wrongly shown them as buyers. Subsequently, license of said firms has been suspended”, he said.
“Administration will increase the frequency of raids to ensure proper and legitimate sale of fertilizers,” he said.
