Ponguleti Warns Against Irregularities In Urea Distribution
Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Friday cautioned government employees that anybody found involved in the distribution of urea fertiliser would be suspended on the spot.
Nalgonda: Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Friday cautioned government employees that anybody found involved in the distribution of urea fertiliser would be suspended on the spot.
Holding a review meeting with officials on the distribution of urea to farmers at his camp office in Kusumanchi, Khammam district, he said that the shortage of urea had arisen due to the Centre’s failure to supply fertilisers to Telangana as per its allocation since April this year. Production at Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL) had stopped due to technical problems.
Stating that about 1,600 metric tonnes of urea would arrive in Khammam within a week, he instructed officials that distribution should be carried out only through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) in the Palair Assembly constituency. Urea bags would not henceforth be supplied to private shops in the constituency.
He directed officials to take steps to curb illegal transportation of urea, which was creating shortages. He suggested that the agriculture department should prepare an action plan to streamline its distribution.
The minister made it clear that even the smallest mistake in the distribution of urea would not be tolerated. He questioned officials about the shortage of urea at the field level, despite records showing that sales this year were higher than last year.
Srinivas Reddy instructed officials to increase the number of PACS urea sale points. The officials of the cooperative, agriculture, and revenue departments should work in coordination to ensure that farmers received urea without difficulty. Temporary licences should be issued to PACS sub-centres for distribution until the end of September, and police security should be provided at these centres.
Later, while laying the foundation stone for a CC road at Kusumanchi, the revenue minister said that the earlier BRS government had dashed the hopes of the poor of owning a pucca house, as the double-bedroom housing scheme had turned into a nightmare for them.
After coming to power in Telangana, the Congress government sanctioned 4.5 lakh Indiramma houses to eligible beneficiaries in the first phase within one year. Every eligible family would get an Indiramma house, which would be sanctioned in a phased manner, he added.
He also distributed shoes and school bags to students from Classes I to V at the Mandal Parishad Primary School in Jeellacheruvu, Kusumanchi mandal, under an initiative taken up by the PSR Trust.
