IFFCO refutes farmer's claim of bag having less urea than what's printed on bag

Gondalia had posted the photo of the bag on a social media platform.

New Delhi: A Haryana farmer has claimed that a 50 kg urea bag sold by IFFCO turned out to be eight kg less after weighing it than what it originally promised, triggering a major controversy.

The incident drew sharp reactions from the public after Magan Bhanu Bhai Gondalia posted the photo of the bag on a social media platform.

Gondalia said that on reaching his store he checked the weight of the bag and found that it contained less urea than what it was printed on it.

Though IFFCO has rejected the charges, social media users have slammed the cooperative for cheating farmers. Some even termed it as a scam.

#Farmer paid for a 50 Kg Bag of #fertilzer, the bag weighed 42 Kg !
Now #IIFCO says:pilferage was not from their end, but was done at the Society Office.
But, what is the #farmer's fault ?
Who will compensate him ?@Devinder_Sharma @_YogendraYadav @sayantanbera @kiran_patniak https://t.co/7OlSKO6Lz3

— RamanS Mann (@ramanmann1974) 11 November 2017

In view of the seriousness of the charges, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar has called for an inquiry on 'priority basis' into the matter.

Pls investigate on a priority basis. @FertMinIndia https://t.co/RYMFfAjjIh

— Ananthkumar (@AnanthKumar_BJP) 11 November 2017

However, IFFCO Managing Director Dr. Udai Shankar Awasthi has defended the organization, saying there was no wrong-doing on its part.

In a tweet message, he said, “The bag of IFFCO is packed and sealed with green thread and the man posing with 42 kg bag on social media seems to have sealed it with white thread.

“So, in this case, it is quite clear that the bag was opened by someone after it was measured and packed at the organizations headquarter.”

Meanwhile, IFFCO has also issued a statement denying the allegations.

It said that the bag was accidentally torn while it was being shipped to the customer, and as a result, it led to the leakage of urea. Hence, the customer received about 42 kg of urea instead of 50 kg.

IFFCO said that it will compensate the aggrieved farmer.

“IFFCO is committed to delivering to customers to compensate the moral responsibility for the incident and assure that no such incident occurs in near future,” it said in the statement.

The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative was founded in 1967.