A release issued by state government said that chief secretary JN Singh directed the two companies to suspend sale of fertilizer until Sunday, and to conduct a checking of weight of fertilizer bags at all sales centres.
Following a series of complaints that fertilizer bags of a state PSU were short of the disclosed weight, the state government on Friday ordered state-owned GSFC and GNFC to suspend fertilizer sale for two days, and to conduct thorough checking.
A release issued by state government said that chief secretary JN Singh directed the two companies to suspend sale of fertilizer until Sunday, and to conduct a checking of weight of fertilizer bags at all sales centres. They were also directed to videograph the process. "The chief secretary directed that sales be resumed from Monday only after checking is completed," it said.
The development came a day after farmers conducted a check at GSFC's distribution depot in Jetpur town of Rajkot on Thursday, and found that 50-kg DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) fertilizer bags were short of the disclosed weight.
Local farmer leader, Chetan Gadhia said that out of 40 bags a farmer had purchased, ten were found to be short weight to the tune of 400-700 gram. "Many bags kept at the depot were also having less than the printed weight of 50 kg. This is a huge scam. Farmers in the state buy over 20 lakh DAP bags and the shortage in each bag is worth Rs 14 to Rs 40," he alleged.
GSFC said that it had ordered a probe in view of the complaints. "A shortage of up to 400 grams was found in few fertilizer bags. GSFC dispatches fertilizer bags with proper weight, which is done on automatic weighing machines. However, an internal enquiry is set up for ascertaining reasons of shortage found in a few bags," it said in a statement.
The Opposition Congress conducted a janta raid at a fertilizer shop in Chiloda in Gandhinagar on Friday. State Congress president Amit Chavda said that three bags were checked, and 300-500 gram weight was found to be short in each.
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