Sundergarh police check fertiliser stocks at a store near TCI Chawk, Rourkela, on Tuesday evening. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 29: The Opposition today alleged in the Odisha Assembly that fertiliser was being sold in the black market and demanded a special discussion on its scarcity in the state.

The state and central governments have been at loggerheads, blaming each other for the fertiliser scarcity. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging for immediate release of one lakh metric tonne of urea to the state, while Union minister of state for chemicals and fertiliser Srikant Jena had claimed that sufficient quantities of fertilisers were available in the state. He had alleged that steps were not being taken to distribute this to the farmers.

The Union minister had said it was the responsibility of the state government to ensure proper distribution of fertilisers. Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan said: “Fertiliser is being sold at an exorbitant price in the black market, as it is not available in the open market.” He asked for discussion on the matter on a priority basis.

BJP member Jaynarayan Mishra said the matter should be discussed in the House as farmers were suffering while the central and state governments were indulging in a blame game.

Raising the issue during zero hour, BJD member Amar Prasad Satpathy said farmers were not getting fertilisers at a time when it was required for cultivation of kharif crop. The central government had allocated only 3.01 lakh metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser against the requirement of 8.25 lakh metric tonnes. The real receipt was as low as 1.98 lakh metric tonnes, resulting in a gap between demand and supply, he said.

Satpathy, who till recently was in the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, alleged that the central government was neglecting Odisha in allocation of fertilisers, when the state expected justice as the department’s minister hailed from the state.

Satpathy urged the Speaker to direct the agriculture minister to make a statement on the fertiliser supply position. He was supported by BJD members, including Pratap Jena and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. All of them emphasised the point that the chief minister had asked for release of at least 1 lakh metric tonnes of urea by the month end.

However, Harichandan said all major problems being confronted by the farmers should be discussed in the House.