Raghuveera call to put hoarders under check

Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy has directed his officials to take action against traders who hoarded fertilizers or jacked up its prices.

At a video-conference of farm officials, convened on Monday to review the farming operations in the state from the Secretariat here, Reddy said with the Centre deciding to raise urea price, the black-marketers and hoarders would try to create artificial scarcity to increase the prices.

He directed the officials to raid black-marketers and hoarders regularly to contain the prices of fertilizers. The government was committed to supplying fertilizers in sufficient quantity to farmers. He asked his officials to plan properly to ensure adequate supply of fertilizers to the farmers.

The government has allotted Rs 200 crore for distributing seeds at a subsidized price to the farmers in the Kharif season. The Centre has decided to release 36 lakh tons of fertilisers to the state during the kharif to meet the shortage of fertilisers, he pointed out.

He admitted that the benefits of 'pavala vaddi' scheme did not reach the farmers in many districts.

The police who swiftly descenced on the scene dispersed the crowd. Tension prevailed at  Jana’s residence  following a scuffle between the agitators and police.