PM, Pranab call unhappy Azhagiri over fertilizer subsidy

Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister M.K. Azhagiri has made it known he is strongly opposed to the government’s new fertilizer policy.

To convince the minister, who is the elder son of DMK Chief M. Karunanidhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee have asked him to join them for a meeting in New Delhi on Monday to sort out their differences.

Earlier this week, the Union Cabinet decided to hike the retail price of urea by 10 per cent. Despite initial concerns expressed by a number of ministers, the Cabinet on Feb 18 cleared a proposal to alter the nature of fertilizer subsidy and thereby partially unshackle fertilizer prices.

The extent of subsidy on a particular fertilizer, earlier based on the nature of the product, will now depend upon the quantity of nutrients it contains. With the DMK, NCP and Trinamool objecting to the change, it took two hours to hammer out a consensus.

During the Cabinet meeting, Azhagiri strongly opposed the decontrol move and said this would greatly affect farmers, lead to an increase in the price of fertilizers and other commodities and contribute to inflation. The Minister said he had conveyed his stand and left it to the Prime Minister to take a decision. Karunanidhi has gone on record that he would oppose the Centre’s move if it hurt the interests of farmers. At the same time, Karunanidhi has clarified that the fertilizer price issue would not strain DMK-Congress relations.

The Monday’s meeting was aimed at ensuring some solution to the issue before a formal announcement of the new policy is made in the 2010-11 budget to be tabled on February 26 by Mukherjee.

- Asian Tribune -