Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, June 27: In brazen violation of the Insecticides Act, the Director Agriculture Kashmir ordered re-testing of around 26 misbranded samples of insecticides, weedicides and fungicides under the influence of the pesticide companies and attached three officials who had become an eyesore for the erring companies.
According to data, the Quality Control Laboratory, Lal Mandi Srinagar analysed 320 samples of insecticides, weedicides and fungicides since April this year. “Out of these, 26 were found misbranded while 290 were found normal”, reveals the data.
The misbranded samples included those of Hunter, Agro-Masschiti and FINISH weedicides and its report was submitted to the Director Agriculture on June 6 and under the act these products were to be lifted from market on June 7. Sources, however, said that their sale continued and majority of these misbranded weedicides were used by the farmers for their paddy crop.
Director Agriculture Kashmir, under the influence of the Pesticide companies, setting aside the Insecticides Act 1968, illegally constituted a committee, (No. Agri/OID/2014-2015/275-85 dated 07-06-2014) comprising three official members of Joint Director Agriculture (Inputs) as Chairman, Agriculture Chemist Kashmir and Tabasum Naaz as Technical member besides four representatives – Devakar Dutt, Kuldeep Razdan, Joginder Singh and Dr MC Sharma- as technical members of three companies – M/s HPM Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited, M/s UP Agro Chemicals Limited and FIL Industries Bari Brahmana Jammu, for re-analysis of 26 samples of pesticides, weedicides and fungicides.
The products for which joint re-analysis was ordered include Hunter manufactured by HPM Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited, Agro-Masschiti manufactured by UP Agro Chemicals Ltd, FINISH and NOOR manufactured by FIL Industries Ltd, Luzem 45 manufactured by Cheminova India Ltd, Macoban M-45 manufactured by Makhteshim Agan India Pvt Ltd and Ekalux 25EC manufactured by Syngenta India Ltd.
The Agriculture Chemist, Iqbal Ahmad Mir, initially resisted (vide communication No. ACK/Agri/2014-15/275-85 dated 07-06-2014) against the illegal order of the director and asked for its review. “It is very humbly submitted to kindly review the directives communicated vide your above referred order within the purview of the Section 22 and 24 of the Insecticides Act, 1968, and its amendments as issued from time to time”, the communication of the Agriculture Chemist to the Director reads.
As per the Sections 22 and 24 of the Insecticides Act, 1968, if a company is aggrieved of the adverse test report issued by the Quality Control Laboratory Lal Mandi Srinagar, it has a provision to get the refree sample analysed in the Central Insecticides Laboratory at Faridabad with the permission of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of the area wherefrom sample has been lifted for analysis.
The Director in order to favour the erring companies, instead of testing the refree sample at the Central Insecticides Laboratory at Faridabad, requested the Deputy Director Law Enforcement to take fresh samples for the illegal re-analysis of the products at Quality Control Laboratory Lal Mandi, Srinagar. “Deputy Director Law Enforcement Lal Mandi Srinagar with the request kindly to provide representative samples of the above referred seized pesticides”, says Director’s order, copy of which was sent to Deputy Director Enforcement.
The three analysts were not part of the committee formed by the Director, the Agriculture Chemist, in order to make the trio part of the illegal committee, issued a circular (No. ACK/2014-15/73-82 dated 10-06-2014) asking the analysts of the Quality Control Laboratory Lal Mandi Srinagar- Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Nazir Ahmad Katoo and Tafazul Hussain Madni- to be part of the joint analysis that was to be held on 10-06-2014. It may be mentioned here that these three analysts were responsible for the testing of the samples at the laboratory.
However, sources said, the three analysts objected to the illegal order issued by the Director Agriculture at the behest of the companies whose crores of rupees pesticides, fungicides and weedicides were found misbranded. Sources said that the trio asked for following the Insecticides Act under which the referral samples were to be sent for testing to the Central Insecticides Laboratory at Faridabad under orders from Chief Judicial Magistrate of the area where from these samples were lifted.
The Director attached all the three analysts – Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Nazir Ahmad Katoo and Tafazul Hussain Madni – to Chief Agriculture Officer Kulgam, Chief Agriculture Officer Shopian and Chief Agriculture Officer Baramulla respectively for not cooperating with him in bailing out the six companies. In his attachment order (Order No. 215 Estt of 2014 dated 11/06/2014), the director accused the three officers of not allowing them to carry joint testing of the misbranded products.
Sources said that these officers were asked to join the new places in the morning of June 12, so that they may not create hurdles in carrying out the illegal joint testing of the products of six companies and may not expose the scandal.
Sources said that no one is allowed to enter the testing laboratory under the Act but the director allowed four representatives of three companies to conduct tests in the government laboratory. Sources further said that these companies had brought their own machinery and other equipment inside the laboratory for testing.
Sources said that the three officials were harassed by the Director with the help of the company representatives and they were not even allowed to proceed on casual leave or hand over the charge of the laboratory to a concern person under proper receipt.
However, the director in his communication (No ACK/Dev/2014-15/208-11 dated 16-06-2014) to the Chief Agriculture Officer Kulgam, Chief Agriculture Officer Shopian and Chief Agriculture Officer Baramulla directed them that three officers should be asked to hand over the charge of the laboratory to In-charge record keeper, Rubaiya Kuanser.
The Joint Director Agriculture later issued a notice to the three officers threatening them of lodging an FIR against them if they failed to hand over the charge of the laboratory to the concerned official. In another communication, the director threatened them to recover the documents which were in their possession through police.
However, sources said that the three officers, apprehending tampering of documents by the Director with the help of Companies officials, were demanding that they should be provided proper receipt and copies of the documents. Sources said that the three officers have now handed over the documents to the In-charge record keeper Rubaiya Kuanser under proper receipt.
Sources said that the illegal committee has analysed one sample and it was again found mis-branded. “The Agriculture Chemist, Iqbal Ahmad Mir, was, however, asked to put his signature on a tampered report in which the product was declared normal. He refused sign the report and was later transferred to Kargil’, sources said.
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