Bajwa urges Centre to raise fertiliser subsidy

The senior Congress leader, Bajwa, said that in budget 2022-23, the central government reduced the subsidy on fertilisers by approximately ₹35,000 crore and there were reports that the government was planning to further slash the subsidy

Chandigarh : Leader of opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday urged the BJP-led central government to raise the subsidy on fertilisers in the upcoming budget of 2023-24 in order to bail out the already ailing farming sector.

Leader of opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa.

The senior Congress leader said that in budget 2022-23, the central government reduced the subsidy on fertilisers by approximately ₹35,000 crore and there were reports that the government was planning to further slash the subsidy.

“It would prove to be disastrous for the farm sector if the Union government further decreases the subsidy on fertilisers. This move would cause great damage to the farm sector, which has been already reeling under crisis,” Bajwa claimed in a statement. He said that cutting subsidies on fertilisers would hit the agricultural sector of Punjab and Haryana really hard.

Bajwa also slammed the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab for its failure to ensure the increase in the share of fertilisers for the cooperative societies due to which the farmers were forced to buy it in the private market.

“During the wheat sowing season that begins in the first week of November, a majority of the farmers in the state suffered the acute shortage of DAP, which is considered to be an essential fertiliser for the better yield of wheat crop,” he said.