LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to supervise the sale of urea at dealers’ shops by deputing officials of the agriculture department and the district administration to ensure availability of fertiliser to farmers at the fixed rates.

The instructions were issued during a video link meeting of deputy commissioners chaired by Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman at the Civil Secretariat here on Friday.

The chief secretary ordered deployment of the officials of the agriculture department and district administration at the shops of fertiliser dealers to check overcharging.

“The dealers will be required to provide the data of sales and stocks of the fertiliser on a daily basis,” he mentioned.

He said the government would protect the rights of farmers in any case, adding the ‘tied sale’ of urea with other fertilisers would not be allowed. He said a strict action would be taken in case of sale of fertiliser at higher than the fixed rates.

The chief secretary said the fertiliser companies did not have the right to increase prices on their own. He also asked the agriculture department to notify the prices of fertilisers in the province.

The agriculture secretary gave a briefing about the ongoing crackdown against overcharging and hoarding of fertilisers. He said that in November, 87 dealers were arrested, 219 cases were registered, more than 50,000 bags of Urea were seized and fines of about Rs20 million were imposed.

The meeting was attended by agriculture secretary, DG and the officers concerned while all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners participated through video link.

Later, Multan Division Commissioner Aamir Khattak directed the deputy commissioners to launch a crackdown on counterfeit agricultural medicines. Task forces should take samples of fertilisers and register cases over any type of violation, he said.

The commissioner said the mafia involved in destroying the agriculture sector would be brought to the court of law. He urged all dealers to register their stock by the beginning of next week, otherwise the undeclared stock would be confiscated.

He said there was no shortage of agricultural medicines and fertilisers in the division.

All dealers gave suggestions to tighten the grip against those selling fake fertilisers and agricultural medicines.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2023