Punjab agriculture department indicates that despite strict monitoring, around 23,000 urea bags are being black-marketed daily but government agencies have no mechanism to trace. Billions of rupees have been wasted on account of subsidy on imported urea, but farmers cannot get the benefit of even a single penny, Profit has learned. Official figures reveal that on average some 1,100 tonnes of imported urea goes untraceable in distribution channels of the National Fertiliser Marketing Limited (NFML) daily. Numbers indicated that despite hue and cry of farmers, 21 per cent out of total 200 authorised urea dealers have been identified as ghost vendors that have no traceability.
Estimates suggest that as many as 1.5 million imported urea bags, on which around Rs2 billion subsidy has been paid, have been issued to unknown dealers so far. Figures show that in Sahiwal division (covering Sahiwal, Okara and Pakpattan), urea black-marketing is alarmingly high. Out of total 33 imported urea dealers 21 dealers are untraceable. Similarly, in Faisalabad and Multan divisions, 14 and seven dealers are ghost dealers, respectively.
A senior agriculture department official on the condition of anonymity disclosed that despite knowing the factual position, federal government’s imported urea distribution arm, NFML, had been showing its unawareness about malpractices in urea distribution. It had been asking provincial government to provide lists of ghost dealers.
Speaking to Profit, Agri Forum Pakistan Chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal alleged that PML-Q leaders, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Raja Basharat and Chaudhry Zaheer, were involved in profiteering on imported urea. He blamed that PML-Q leaders were involved in black-marketing of imported urea by issuing urea to their front men, who were marketing Rs1,400 worth subsided urea bag at Rs1,800 in retail markets.
It may be noted here that despite surplus urea manufacturing capacity available in the country, Pakistan has to import urea fertiliser at exorbitantly high price from international markets. Experts believe that it is a result of gross mismanagement in the energy sector as the government has failed to ensure natural gas supply to urea manufacturing plant. Federal government has allocated Rs25 billion for urea subsidy for the current Rabi crops, including wheat, grams, lentils, sunflower, maize, vegetables and fodder, but farmers are still unhappy as the benefit cannot be passed on to them due to black-marketing and profiteering.
