Parliamentary Panel Calls for Stricter Fertilizer Regulations
A Parliamentary Standing Committee is pushing for more stringent policies and guidelines to prevent illegal activities related to fertilizer distribution in India. The goal is to eliminate black-marketing, smuggling, and pilferage, ensuring that farmers receive the fertilizers they need.
Concerns Over Subsidized Fertilizer Misuse
The committee, addressing self-sufficiency in fertilizer production to reduce imports, expressed worries about the misuse of government subsidies. The committee emphasized that:
- Stringent policies and guidelines should be developed with input from all stakeholders and state governments.
- These measures should ensure proper fertilizer sale and distribution nationwide.
- Random checks should be conducted to verify the quality and quantity of fertilizers.
Proposed Solutions
To combat these issues, the committee suggested several measures:
- Exploring the feasibility of a nationwide network of laboratories to monitor fertilizer quality.
- Implementing a grievance redressal mechanism for prompt action on complaints.
- Informing the committee about actions taken to address these issues.
Essential Commodities Act and State Government Authority
The committee noted that fertilizers are classified as essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the Fertilizer Control Order, 1985. This empowers state governments to take action against individuals involved in illegal activities related to fertilizers.
The committee, led by TMC MP Kirti Azad, acknowledged that complaints are forwarded to state governments for appropriate action.
Urea Subsidy Scheme and Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Policy
The committee also addressed subsidy policies:
- They highlighted the need to continue the urea subsidy scheme, including indigenous urea, imported urea, and uniform freight subsidy components.
- The committee urged a holistic review of the urea subsidy policy, considering its benefits to farmers and aiming to promote the desired proportion of Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash (4:2:1) in farming.
- They recommended continuing the present Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Policy for P&K fertilizers.
The committee suggested making the NBS policy more effective by:
- Increasing the number of P&K fertilizers under the NBS policy.
- Rationalizing prices of P&K fertilizers.
Addressing Fertilizer Shortages
The committee highlighted that only 19.7 LMT of P&K fertilizers were imported against the targeted 30 LMT, leading to shortages and black marketing of DAP.
They recommended developing a central monitoring mechanism to take timely action during emergent situations and framing a policy for action against defaulting agencies.
Nano Fertilizer Trials
The committee also recommended conducting long-term trials of nano fertilizers to establish their efficacy. These trials should:
- Assess the benefits and drawbacks of using nano fertilizers.
- Focus on crop productivity, nutritional quality, and soil health.
- Enable farmers to optimally adopt nano fertilizers as a replacement for conventional fertilizers.