Fertilizer bags in Gujarat found weighing less, probe ordered

Farmers in Rajkot district of Gujarat have complained that a state PSU's 50 kg Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer bags were short of the disclosed weight by around 400 grams, prompting the company to order a probe.

Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (GSFC) has ordered the probe after receiving complaints in this regard from some farmers in Rajkot district.

The state-run company termed it as a "stray" incident, but a local farmer leader called it a "huge scam".

The issue came to fore Thursday when some farmers conducted a reality check at GSFC's fertilizer distribution depot in Jetpur town.

When more complaints started pouring in, GSFC issued a statement, saying they will conduct an "internal enquiry" to find out how this happened.

"A shortage of up to 400 grams was found in few fertilizer bags sold from GSFC's Jetpur depot. GSFC dispatches fertilizer bags with proper weight, which is done on the automatic weighing machines.

"However, an internal enquiry is set up for ascertaining the reasons of shortage found in a few bags sold from depots," the statement said.

After the controversy over the weight of the 'Sardar DAP' fertilizer bags, GSFC has made immediate arrangements for the "installation of weighing machines at each depot so that farmers can procure fertilizers after ensuring weight of the bags," the statement said.

"GSFC regrets some stray incident of shortage like this, but will always standby the interest of farmers by providing quality fertilizers," it added.

The issue came to the fore when Ketan Bhuva, a farmer from Jetpur, reached the GSFC depot with a complaint that some of the DAP bags he had purchased, each having printed net weight of 50kgs, were short weight to the tune of 400 to 700 grams.

A local farmer leader, Chetan Gadhia, along other cultivators then reached the depot in Jetur and started weighing bags kept at the centre in the presence of media.

"Out of the 40 bags Bhuva had purchased, 10 were found to be short weight to the tune of 400 to 700 grams. Many bags kept at the depot were also having less than the printed weight of 50 kgs.

"This is a huge scam. Farmers in Gujarat buy over 20 lakh DAP bags and the shortage in each bag is worth Rs 14 to Rs 40," said Gadhia.