Farmers in Chatmohar upazila of Pabna are being held hostage by a fertiliser syndicate, according to complaints raised at an official meeting. The complaints said some unscrupulous fertiliser traders were trying to tarnish the image of the current government. Many dealers do not display price lists and charge whatever they like. Some dealers are also accused of hoarding fertiliser since the start of the transplanted Aman season and selling it at higher prices, raising fears of a shortage in the coming rabi season.
BNP leaders and others made the allegations on Thursday at the monthly meeting of the Chatmohar upazila law and order committee.
According to the complaints, a group of dealers has created an artificial shortage by stockpiling fertiliser. Ordinary farmers cannot get it even after queuing for hours, and many are being forced to leave their land fallow. Some are selling fertiliser on the black market. Farmers are also refused the fertiliser they need unless they buy types they do not need. The speakers demanded action.
Those who spoke about the irregularities and the syndicate included BNP leaders Rabiul Karim Tareq, Shahadat Hossain, Majnur Rahman and Principal Abdur Rahim Kalu, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Asaduzzaman Mia and Chhatra Dal upazila convener Fulchand Hossain Shamim.
According to the complaints, dealers at Mirzapur in Nimaichara, Rail Bazar in Mulgram, Bamangram Bazar in Dibigram and Sharatganj Bazar in Foiljana have created an artificial shortage, keeping fertiliser in warehouses and selling it above the government price. Dealers are accused of holding back fertiliser allocated for farmers instead of releasing it to the market. Those willing to pay more can still get it.
Among those accused are Abdus Salam Sarkar, a BCIC dealer in the Rail Bazar area of Chatmohar; Masud and Mohammad Ali of Bamangram Bazar in Dibigram union; Yunus Ali of Sharatganj Bazar; and a dealer in Mirzapur. They are accused of stockpiling hundreds of sacks of DAP, potash, MOP and urea in several warehouses and creating an artificial shortage in the area.
At the government price, a sack of urea costs Tk 1,350, DAP Tk 1,050, TSP Tk 1,350 and potash Tk 1,000. Chatmohar upazila has 12 BCIC dealers, 17 BADC dealers and 69 retail fertiliser sellers. Most of them are accused of selling above the government price, taking hundreds of thousands of taka from farmers.
According to the upazila agriculture office, transplanted Aman paddy was grown on more land than targeted in Chatmohar this season: 7,775 hectares against a target of 7,760. This October the upazila was allocated 465 tonnes of urea, 540 tonnes of DAP, 150 tonnes of TSP and 285 tonnes of potash. Several sources said that besides the government allocation, dealers and retailers are buying fertiliser on the black market in neighbouring upazilas and storing it.
They are cutting supply to farmers to create an artificial shortage and selling at higher prices. A retail fertiliser seller, speaking on condition of anonymity, said dealers are charging Tk 300 to 500 a sack above the government price, so retailers in various markets cannot get fertiliser.
Chatmohar upazila agriculture officer Kuntala Ghosh said there is no scope to sell fertiliser at higher prices. Monitoring is constant and action is taken whenever a complaint is received, she said, adding that sub-assistant agriculture officers are monitoring sales by dealers and retailers.
Responding to the complaints at the meeting, the upazila’s newly appointed nirbahi officer, Khalid Hasan, said every fertiliser seller must display a price list. Steps will be taken to ensure a fair price and even distribution, monitoring will be stepped up, and mobile courts will be run whenever complaints are received, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report