Imphal, (Asian independent) Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday that the BJP government in Manipur has been diverting urea for boosting poppy cultivation in the hilly areas of the state, while the farmers’ body said that the fertiliser is being smuggled into neighbouring Myanmar.
Ramesh, who is the Congress observer for Manipur where Assembly elections are less than a year away, said in a tweet: “BJP’s ‘Vikas’ in Manipur. Manipur is getting twice the supply of urea it needs and yet farmers complain of shortage! Why? Because urea is diverted to hill areas in Manipur, where poppy is being grown for opium in large areas for the last four yrs. The state govt is fully complicit in this.”
Out of the 16 districts in Manipur, in more than 12 districts, illegal poppy cultivation is reportedly rampant and the poppy plants can be found growing barely a few km from the residential areas.
Although the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act lists poppy as a contraband substance known for its psychotropic effects, the plant is being extensively cultivated in the interior hill areas of the northeastern state.
Illegal poppy cultivation for opium has been in existence for almost a decade, but production has increased manifold in the last few years in Manipur, which shares around 400 km border with Myanmar.
The Loumi Shimee Apunba Lup (Lousal), a farmers’ organisation in Manipur, has also demanded a probe into the shortage of urea despite the state receiving more than its actual requirement.
In a statement, Lousal said that there have been growing complaints from farmers against the artificial scarcity created by some.
The statement said: “There are 81,189 hectares of paddy fields in Manipur’s valley areas. There are 88,820 hectares in the hills. About 20,000 hectares of farmland are affected by various developmental projects. Due to lack of enforcement of The Manipur Conservation of Paddy Lands and Wetlands Act, 2014, there is a huge loss of areas of agricultural land,” it said, alleging that the fertiliser is suspected to be smuggled to Myanmar.
According to the organisation, a farmer needs three bags of 45-kg urea for one hectare of land. The total urea requirement is thus 2,43,000 bags. The Centre had allotted 4,40,000 bags of urea to the state, with an excess of 1,97,000 bags.
The farmers had earlier organised a relay hunger strike demanding timely availability of urea ahead of the harvesting season.
Ngamjahao Kipgen, who teaches humanities and social sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati, had said after conducting a study that the Manipur police’s Narcotics and Affairs of Border wing destroyed 6,300 kg of opium produced on a total of 630 acres in seven hill districts during January-February 2018.
He said that discussion with the farmers revealed that indebtedness, unemployment, poverty, lack of alternative means of livelihood, children’s education and material needs forced them to undertake poppy cultivation in Manipur.
Security and intelligence officials in Manipur said that poppy cultivation is largely controlled by a section of outlawed outfits as it is their major source of income.
The Manipur government, however, rubbished the allegation that it is supporting opium production by diverting the “excess” urea.
“Manipur Chief Minister (N. Biren Singh) had in February announced Rs 10 lakh for Peh village in Ukhrul district in appreciation of their steps to destroy poppy plantations. The government is always against such illegal farming,” a government official said.
