18 fertilizer dealers face the axe
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 01 2011: The State Government has recommended to the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL) to cancel dealership of 18 fertilizer dealers of the State.

These 18 dealers never ferried fertilizers last year, stated an official source today.

The official said that the recommendation to de-list the 18 dealers was made as a part of the measures taken up to ship in the requisite quantity of fertilizers for the State before onset of rainy season.

The number of fertilizers for the State is 20 Imphal East, 13 for Imphal West, 18 for Thoubal, 10 for Bishnupur, five for Senapati and two for Ukhrul.

Counting the five new dealers selected newly, the total number of dealers for the State is 68 .

Out of these, 45 dealers shipped in fertilizers while 18 dealers never bothered to bring in fertilizers last year.

The Department has written to the company to cancel dealership of these 18 defaulting dealers and to appoint 4/5 new dealers in place of them.

A total of 285 metric tonnes of fertilizers were shipped in to the State last month while only around 10 truck-loads have been shipped in this month as against the allocated quantity of 3750 metric tonnes.

Nevertheless, the Department has taken up necessary measures to ship in the full quota allocated for the month of April, asserted the official.

A meeting of Department officials and fertilizer dealers yesterday, but only 14/15 dealers turned up.

During the meeting, strict instructions were issued that the dealers should not sell fertilizers to farmers directly but distribute the fertilizers through the 349 agents.

Each dealer should have at least two trucks.

In case, any dealer does not have two trucks, they should submit an undertaking within a week to the department declaring that the trucks (they hired) can be used for six months.

Conveying that the State Govt had sent a representative to BVFCL at Namrup and talked with the firm's senior officials last month so as to ensure that the full quota allocated to Manipur is ferried to the State, the official said that the company assured to provide 40/50 truck loads of fertilizers to Manipur everyday.

The company officials said that a prior information be given to them in case the State Government wishes to engage extra trucks for transportation of fertilizers.

To the State Government's request to open a separate godown for Manipur and also to bring fertilizers till Jorhat rail-head, the company officials said that this would require permission from the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Subsequently, the State Government has been working to get the Ministry's permission, said the official.

Coupled with the low rate of transportation charge fixed by the Centre and the several taxes being levied along the highway leading to Imphal, there is every likelihood of fertilizers being very costly in Manipur, the State Government is considering to pay Rs 45,000 per trip for a truck load of fertilizer.

Moreover, the Government is also deliberating on granting certain subsidy to the dealers.

The official further informed that the department spent Rs 2 crores on subsidy granted to dealers last year.

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