West Bengal leads with 3,127 cases of spurious fertilisers in 5 years

Recent data reveals that West Bengal recorded the highest number of spurious fertiliser cases, followed by Haryana, Odisha, and Punjab, as the government vows strict action

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As Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan warns of strict action against the sale of fake, spurious, or sub-standard fertilisers across the country, recent data has shown that in the last five years, around 12 states and Union Territories (UTs) have reported such sales, with West Bengal leading the pack with 3,127 cases.

 

Haryana, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala are among the other major states that reported the highest cases of spurious or sub-standard fertiliser sales, according to a reply by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers tabled in Parliament today.

 

In Haryana, around 707 cases of spurious fertiliser sales were reported in the last five years, against which FIRs were registered in only 52 cases (just around 7 per cent).

 

In West Bengal, out of the 3,127 cases of spurious fertilisers recorded in the last five years, action has been taken against all of them under the Fertiliser Control Order of 1985.

 

According to the Parliament reply, 610 cases of spurious fertiliser sales were reported in Odisha in the last five years, with Letters of Acceptance suspended against 228 of these cases. Sales of around 267 were stopped, and prosecution was launched against 21 of them. 

 

In Punjab, around 487 cases of spurious fertiliser sales were recorded in the last five years. In response, the licenses of all the companies involved were revoked, while 146 cases were pending in court against the companies that supplied the spurious fertilisers. Additionally, 18 FIRs were registered against the defaulters.

 

Interestingly, Rajasthan reported no cases of spurious fertilisers, according to the parliamentary reply.

 

The government clarified in Parliament that the Fertiliser Control Order of 1985 clearly specifies fertiliser-wise standards, and any fertiliser not meeting these standards is not allowed to be sold. Any sale of spurious or sub-standard fertilisers is punishable under the Essential Commodities Act of 1955, the government noted in its reply.

 

It also mentioned that the quality control of fertilisers falls under the purview of state governments. To regulate the sale of duplicate fertilisers, there is a district quality control mechanism in place to raise awareness and ensure vigilance at the field level.