MULTAN, Feb 9: Farmers and activists of the Kissan Board Pakistan on Monday demonstrated outside the press club here to protest the shortage and black-marketing of urea fertiliser.

Carrying banners and placards, they chanted slogans against the authorities concerned and fertilizer dealers.

The protesters bemoaned the shortage of fertilizer as well as inaction by the government to clamp down on profiteers and hoarders.

Addressing the protesters, Khurshid Khan Kanju and Fayazul Hasan Bhutta of the KBP said farmers were facing hardships because of the black-marketing of urea fertiliser which was in short supply throughout the country.

They said authorities concerned had failed to enforce urea fertilizer’s Rs670 per bag price prescribed by the government.

They alleged that urea fertilizer was only being sold to the influential people while the poor farmers were being fleeced by hoarders and profiteers.

The government had spent millions of rupees to mobilise farmers to cultivate more and more wheat, but it was not taking any step to check black-marketing and shortage of fertilizer, he said.

VEHARI: Farmers held a demonstration in front of the press club to protest the non-availability of urea fertilizer.

The protesters shouted slogans against the government for failing to supply fertiliser at the fixed price of Rs660 per bag.

Addressing on the occasion, KBP spokesman Tufail Warraich and others said that dealers were selling fertiliser between Rs900 and Rs1,000 per bag.

Farmers also held demonstrations in various towns, including Mailsi, Dokota, Tibba Sultanpur, Thingi and Chak-24/WB.

Farmer Ghulam Nabi of Tibba Sultanpur said the government should immediately form farmers’ committees to distribute fertilizers across the board. He said that monitoring teams were only checking small dealers as not a single big dealer or a stockist was rounded up in the district in the recent past.

The DDO (revenue) seized over 3,000 urea bags after raids on godowns in Luddan and Machiwal, Dokota and Chak-24/WB, but these raids were not enough to resolve the problem of urea shortage.

Requesting anonymity, a hoarder said that all big farmers had bought urea fertilizer before the season which created its shortage.

DCO Khuram Agha said that strict action would be taken against dealers flouting the prescribed rates of fertiliser. He also warned dealers of action if they did not display price lists on conspicuous places.

Anjuman Falah-i-Kashtkaran president, Mailsi Rao Muhammad Ashraf alleged that a ruling party MNA and an MPA were involved in the black- marketing of fertiliser.

He alleged that half of the 2,800 fertiliser bags received every second day by the local depot were sold off to farmers while the rest were handed over to the ruling party representatives.

Denying the allegations, PPP MNA Mehmood Hayat Tochi Khan said that he was working only to ensure fertiliser supply to growers.

FAISALABAD: Scores of farmers staged demonstrations in different areas of the district against the shortage and black-marketing of fertilizer.

The areas where farmers protested and blocked different roads were include Tandlianwala, Samundri, Chak Jhumra, Pensra and Nalka Kohala. Farmers were also carrying banners and placards and also chanted slogans against the government.

Speakers Rehanul Haq, Tariq Munir, Ijaz Ahmed, Ahmed Yar, Rana Ikram and others said that cultivators were facing problems because of the shortage and black-marketing of fertilizers and unscrupulous elements involved in the wrongdoing had almost made the government helpless.

They said there was no truth in the government’s claim of controlling the fertilizer crisis by importing the commodity because cultivators were running from pillar to post for getting the fertilizer.

Criticizing the role of agriculture officers, farmers and their representatives said that officers were only presenting an all-ok report to the government.

They urged the government to ensure free supply of fertilizer to every farmer for achieving the wheat target.