New Delhi [India], August 19 : Amid the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, Telangana Congress MPs on Tuesday staged a protest against the Centre, demanding the release of urea for the farmers of the state.
"Telangana Farmers demand full urea supply. The Government of India promised 8.3 lakh metric tons, delivered only 5.3 lakh metric tons! Close the gap, save our Telangana Farmers," read a protest banner held by the MPs.
Hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led government, Congress MP Mallu Ravi warned of farmers in Telangana "coming onto roads" to protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the centre if urea was not released.
"Farmers in Telangana are suffering due to a lack of urea supply. If it is not released immediately, the crops are going to be damaged. Farmers will come onto the roads and they will protest against the BJP government," Ravi told ANI.
He said that the government had promised to give approximately 9 lakh Metric Tonnes (MTs) of urea, but only released 5 lakh MT of urea. "We will not leave this issue and will perform a 'dharna' before the house of JP Nadda," he added.
"They have only delivered 5 lakh tonnes of urea, and as per the plan of the government of India and Union Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister (JP Nadda), they are yet to release 3 lakh tonnes of urea to Telangana. They are providing urea to Andhra Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states. Because Telangana is a Congress-ruled state, they are not delivering urea," Ravi said.
Congress MP Vamsi Gaddam said that the lack of urea delivery for the farmers in the state of Telangana was a "complete mismanagement of the BJP government".
"We have a huge urea crisis going on in Telangana. Yesterday, we also met the parliamentary committee chairman of fertilisers, Kriti Azad. All five of us MPs from Telangana went. We did a protest here. Today, I'm also trying to raise the zero-hour question by highlighting our need for urea. Almost 9 lakh tonnes of urea were promised, and hardly 3 to 4 lakh tonnes have been delivered. This is complete mismanagement of the BJP government," Gaddam told ANI.
Over a month ago, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy met Union Minister JP Nadda at his official residence in Delhi and requested a timely supply of the urea allocated to Telangana for the ongoing Kharif season.
During the meeting, Reddy brought to the notice of the Union Minister that only 3.07 lakh metric tonnes of urea were supplied between April and June as against the requirement of 5 lakh metric tonnes in the Kharif season.
Given the farming activity being in full swing, Revanth Reddy had appealed to the Union Minister to ensure no disruption in the supply of urea.