Jairam Ramesh, a former union minister, and Congressman, today accused the BJP of diverting urea meant for farmers to opium fields. According to the Rajya Sabha MP, while Manipur receives twice as much water as it needs, its farmers are complaining about a shortage.
“BJP’s ‘Vikas’ in Manipur. Manipur is getting TWICE the supply of urea it needs and yet farmers complain of shortage! Why? Because urea is diverted to hill areas in Manipur, where poppy is being grown for opium in large areas in the last 4 yrs. The State Govt is fully complicit in this,” said Ramesh in a tweet.
Accusations of the Congress Manipur Secretary
According to Congressman Shah Nawazkhan, a farmer died while waiting in line for urea. “Many farmers are protesting against the BJP Govt of Manipur for not providing Urea Fertilizers on time. Unfortunately, One farmer also died when standing in queue for submitting an Aadhaar card and land record to acquire a bag of urea. Shame on you BJP,” he said.
Manipur based farmers organization demanded an inquiry
Owing to the fact that the state had received more than its original urea requirement, a farmers’ organization in Manipur, Loumi Shimee Apunba Lup, demanded an investigation into the shortage of urea faced by the farmers.
Government’s denial of any such shortage
Some farmers had even gone on a hunger strike to demand that urea be made available to them on schedule In contrast, Manipur Agriculture Minister Oinam Lukhoi denied any shortage.
“Efforts are continuously being made by the Government through Agri Department to cover maximum farmers,” said Sukhoi. In addition, he emphasized that the government, under the leadership of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, is committed to the welfare of the farmers and that their concerns and grievances are always given the highest.
