From June 1, fertilizer sale via PoS, Aadhaar a must
TRACK AND REGULATE No unauthorised sale or blackmarketeering now
Beginning June 1, the Rajasthan government will sell fertilizer to farmers only through Aadhaar-enabled pointof-sale (PoS) terminals through biometric authentication, an initiative already adopted for doling out foodgrains at public distribution shops.
The initiative is part of Government of India’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for fertilizer subsidy payments.
Rajasthan agriculture minister Prabhu Lal Saini told Hindustan Times that under a pilot project, PoS machines were installed at fertilizer shops in Pali district in January this year.
Pali was among 15 districts across the country selected by the Centre for the pilot project.
“After successful implementation in Pali, the project is being replicated across the state. In Pali, 254 PoS machines were installed and the sales were carried out through them,” said the minister.
He further said that there are a total of 10,500 fertilizer retailers in the state.
This includes 3,500 gram seva sahakari samitis run by the state cooperative department and 7,000 private retailers.
“The PoS machines have already been installed at 6,500 retail outlets,” he said, adding that the agriculture department also imparted training to the retailers on how to use the machines.
The PoS machines at remaining 4000 outlets will be installed in next seven days.
“The project is being implemented by Union fertilizer ministry with an aim to improve the service delivery system.
“Fertilizer will be sold to farmers by verifying their Aadhaar details and after biometric authentication through PoS,” said Saini.
He further said that only those retailers who are registered under the Mobile Fertilizer Management System (MFMS) can procure stock from the companies.
“Those farmers, who do not have Aadhaar, can get themselves registration for the UID at e-mitra kiosks. They can then use this registration number to buy fertilizer,” he said.
In absence of any control mechanism, the retailers could sell fertilizer arbitrarily.
There also were complaints of fertilizer being sold in the black market.
The minister, however, said that sale of fertilizer through PoS machines will stop its misuse and black marketing.
It will also help in getting the actual data of fertilizer sale in the state, he said.
“Under this project, the subsidy will be transferred to the account of fertilizer companies after the sale is made,” Saini added.
Rajasthan has more than 85 lakh farmers, who use more than 30 lakh tonnes of fertilizer, including urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK), every year.
When contacted, Barmer district agriculture officer Pabu Singh Mahecha said following the government’s directive, the process of installing PoS machines have already started across the district.
Of the total 150 PoS machines, 80 have already been installed in the district and farmers can use the machines, he added.