The newly elected Congress government in the state of Madhya Pradesh seems to be in deep trouble as it is facing a spate of problems, one after another. The first sign of crisis came right in the middle of the Rabi season as the state encountered a shortage of urea in several of the districts. Farmers in Guna and Raisen districts of Madhya Pradesh reportedly staged protests and blocked roads after cooperative societies ran out of urea. PC Meena, Commissioner, agriculture production, Madhya Pradesh, said that 18 of the 51 districts in the state were facing urea shortage in the state. He stated, “We are getting additional railway racks for urea and the crisis will end within three to four days. Also, there are some logistical problems leading to the crisis. There is no black marketing going on, I haven’t received any complaints.”
The farm group leaders alleged that the shortfall of urea in the state is attributable to the widespread sale of urea in the black market in the state. Anil Yadav, Bharatiya Kisan Union state general secretary said, “A 45 kg bag of urea cost ~250 and farmer gets it in credit when they purchase it from the cooperative society, but private traders are selling it at ~450 per bag and there is nobody to check it. Traders have been given a free hand because they contributed funds during elections.”
The situation in the state over urea shortage has only worsened with the passage of time. During urea distribution on Monday in the Guna district, the police carried out a lathi charge on the protesting farmers. It is very disheartening that the local administration had to take such measures after the Congress came to power in the state after raking up the issue of farm distress in a big way. The incident took place in Nanakhedi of the Guna district where the farmers were taking urea but got impatient due to delay in urea distribution. They soon started protesting over this issue. As the protests grew stronger, the police resorted to lathi charge against the protesting farmers. It is ironic how the Congress was trying to corner the BJP over the issue of farm distress time and again, but when the Congress itself came to power in Madhya Pradesh, farmers in the state not only had to face urea shortage but were also made to face a lathi charge on protesting against urea shortage.
However, this is not all, the farmers of Madhya Pradesh who are already facing urea shortage are now faced with another crisis in the form of potential power shortage in face of diminishing coal stocks in major power plants supplying power to the state. According to sources, four power plants in the state are left with only one to two days’ worth of coal stocks. This clearly hints at a delicate situation where any delay in coal supply could lead to an acute power shortage. This comes as a major crisis for the farmers since power demand is at its peak in the state at the time of crucial rabi crop season. At such a crucial time, the farmers are facing urea shortage and even have to face lathi charge if they protest against such shortage. The situation was already worrisome and another cause of worry now looms large over the state.
The Congress had made farmer distress a major political and electoral issue in the run-up to the Assembly polls in the Hindi heartland this year. It is a matter of shame that after storming to power, such major issues are plaguing the farmers in the state of Madhya Pradesh. This speaks volumes of the low standards of administrative efficiency and poor governance that Congress has to offer.