Additional Secretary, Department of Fertilizers Government of India, Dharam Pal took a review meeting of officers of Agriculture Department, Fertilizer Companies, Wholesalers and the Retailers to Go-live for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in Fertilizer sector in the state.The meeting was attended by Director Agriculture, Jammu, H. K. Razdan, Director Law Enforcement, J & K, Susheel Sahni, Joint Director SLUB, Bulesh Zutshi, Joint Director of Agriculture (Extension) R. L. Bhagat, State Manager, NFL, O. N. Koul, State Co-ordinator, DBT, Akhil Vaid, Chief Agriculture Officers of all districts of Jammu Division, OSD to Additional Secretary, Department of Fertilizers, Ritesh Sahu, Representatives of IPL, IFFCO, CFCL in person and the Director Agriculture, Kashmir A. A. Andrabi, Chief Agriculture Officers of Kashmir Division besides Additional District Development Commissioners of the various districts participated through Video-Conferencing.
Additional Secretary while speaking on the occasion said that sale of fertilizer shall be brought under the ambit of DBT by the usage of Point of Sale (POS) machines up to the end users. These Machines will generate useful data for future planning and evaluation of fertilizer policy. The linkage of these devices with Aadhaar Cards will add up to more transparency, accuracy and authenticity of the system.He directed officers of the Agriculture Department and the Fertilizer Supplying Companies to adhere to the deadlines and guidelines to provide transparency in the fertilizer business to ensure easy availability to the farmers. He asked the Field Functionaries of the department to monitor the correct data entry regarding fertilizer socks and sale records by the respective wholesalers and retailers in their respective areas. The wholesalers and fertilizer retailers using Point of Sale Devices only will be given fertilizer supplies after the end of the deadline.
He said that the introduction of Point of sale (POS) machines will give a clear picture of fertilizer movement and supplies in the State and therefore directed the officers to gear up the extension machinery to ensure that the instructions are adhered to by all the concerned in all districts for smooth roll out of the DBT in the state.The Additional Secretary along with the Director Agriculture, Jammu and Joint Director of Agriculture Extension also inspected the fertilizer stocks and available infrastructure at Udhampur Rake Point.Earlier, Director Agriculture Jammu who is also the Controller of Fertilizer, J & K in his welcome address gave details regarding usage of Point of Sale Devices, various problems and bottlenecks in the implementation of the DBT in Fertilizers which include connectivity problems in the Jammu division.