Mulayam Singh’s brother Shivpal Singh Yadav is ever in news for all the wrong reasons. After advocating “limited theft” for engineers in Uttar Pradesh, he has shifted his focus to cooperative giants like Iffco and Kribhco.

The Cooperative Minister has warned IFFCO and KRIBHCO of serious consequences if they did not supply the stipulated amount of fertilisers due to the state.

The minister stated firmly that the fertiliser companies would not be allowed to ship their goods to customers outside if they could not meet   farmers’ demands in UP.

Both IFFCO and KRIBHCO have to supply 40 percent of their production to Pradeshik Cooperative Federation ( PCF ) of the state. The PCF is the organisation that distributes this fertiliser to the cooperative societies at the district level.

UP needs 10.35 lakh MT urea for kharif season and the amount supplied by the fertiliser majors thus far is just a small bit of it.

Shivpal Yadav said if farmers continued to face a shortage of fertilisers during the time when it was badly needed the situation might assume dangerous proportions. The minister added he had appraised the center of what could   happen if fertilisers were not supplied on time.

The cost of urea is about Rs. 300 per bag but presently it is selling for more than Rs. 600. The black marketing of it has annoyed farmers.

Sources say the new govt. is determined to ensure a hassle-free distribution of fertilisers among farmers. It has issued strict instructions to authorities at various levels to ensure farmers get as much fertliser as they want.

Given that there is a shortage of storage space in the state, the UP government has called a halt to the wheat procurement by the close of June.

There are seven agencies altogether including NAFED and NCCF involved in procuring grains. All of them have been stopped.

According to a govt. official, Pradeshik Cooperative Federation has also been  asked  to stop buying  wheat from farmers  without delay.

Worried about the safety of grains lying in open spaces, the govt has decided to organize the optimal distribution of grains through PDS.

Corruption seems to be pervading the cooperative sector in the country’s biggest state Uttar Pradesh. The Cooperative Minister in the state has suspended a number of employees of Pradeshik Cooperative Federation   on corruption charges.

The PCF employees have been found indulging in serious irregularities in the ongoing wheat procurement in the state.

The new dispensation in Lucknow has taken a serious view of it.

The Cooperative Minister has warned of stern action against those cooperative officials and employees   who indulge in corrupt practices.

According to the minister, several scams and frauds have recently come to light and they are an indication of a pervasive corruption and abuse of authority rampant in the cooperative sector.