Press Note Date 30/06/2010 Eng

OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION
Gujarat Vidhansabha, Gandhinagar.
Press Note:         30.06.2010

• 70 percent of the money provided for agricultural kits this year has remained unused.
• Material has been bought from foreign company Monsanto without going through the tender process.
• Seed sowing has failed twice so farmers should be given seeds free of cost.
• Orders are not placed even after the completion of the tender process just to make money.
• Gujarat government is not going for research in BT cotton just to help foreign company make money.
• Government should make public the list of items provided in the kit last year and this year.

70 percent of the money provided for agricultural kits this year has remained unused, said leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil here today. As per the government GR farmers are provided agricultural kits from the grants of the central and state government. The kit contains seeds, liquid fertilizer, pesticide and related material.
He said that this year the kit did not contain many of the items which are must. He pointed out that it is the responsibility of the Agriculture Department to provide best quality seeds to farmers. In the past, during Congress rule, the Department had developed good yield LOKVAN variety of wheat. Today farmers are going for BT crops. However, he said, government is not paying any attention for research in this field just to help some foreign companies in this trade.
This year seeds have been bought from foreign company Monsanto without going through the tender process. This is just to help the multinational company clear its piled up dead stock.
Gohil said that by supplying these seeds, government is wasting public money. Alleging that this year many items were missing in the kit, Gohil challenged the government to come out with the list of the material supplied in the kits last year and this year.
It is a well established fact tender process is adopted for the purchase of seeds. But this time it has not been followed thus ignoring basic principle of quality and competitive price in the purchase of material.
On the other hand, he said, there are instances where tender process has been followed. In these cases, no orders have been placed even though the tender process is over. This is just to strike deal for giving order thus promoting corruption, he pointed out.
Because of scanty rains in the first month this year, seeds sown by farmers have gone waste. In such a situation, he demanded, government should give seeds free to farmers
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