Maharashtra’s opposition on Friday said that farmers in the state were being asked for their caste while buying fertilisers from the government’s DBT portal and that those who refused to reveal that were being denied fertilisers.

The issue was raised in the assembly by opposition leader Ajit Pawar, who said farmers in Sangli were asked about their caste before they were given fertilisers. “The point-of-sale machine earlier used to take the name of the farmer, his mobile number and how many bags he was buying, but now it is also asking for the caste of the farmer,” the NCP leader said.

“When I enquired with the concerned officials, they told me that the PoS machines recently had a software update and farmers now had to fill the new criteria. The transaction is not completed if the farmer does not reveal his caste,” he said, adding: “Why should the farmer reveal his caste for buying fertiliser? All the farmers are of one community.”

Pawar’s contention was supported by Prithviraj Chavan of Congress, who said the caste of the farmers had been sought not just in Sangli, but elsewhere as well. “This software change cannot be there for one district. I have information that it has been done across Maharashtra and that it has been implemented on the orders of the Centre. If it is true then we need to know who has given these orders, in how many districts (in the state) it has been implemented and what is the reason behind giving such an order,” Chavan said.

The discussion became heated when opposition members objected to minister for forests and cultural affairs Sudhir Mungantiwar’s reply on the issue.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde then intervened and said the state would ask the Centre to remove the caste question. “The DBT portal belongs to the Centre. We would inform the Centre about the feelings of the House and the sentiments of the farmers in the state and ask the Centre to remove the criteria,” he said.

Later Maharashtra agriculture minister Abdul Sattar spoke to Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and pointed out the issue. Sattar said the Union minister had assured him that necessary changes would be made to the portal to remove the caste question.