Probe begins into supply of inferior crates to Pungrain
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, May 25
The Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department on Monday initiated investigation to verify the charges of substandard crates being supplied for storing wheat in warehouses here.
The probe has been instituted after an inspector in the Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs dispatched a complaint against inferior quality of material being supplied to the government.
Rajneesh Kumari, Lead Deputy Director of the Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Jalandhar, said on the directions of the head office, she deployed teams to verify the claims. She said two teams, comprising three inspectors and a District Food Supplies Officer, were deployed and one more team would be added on Tuesday to complete the probe. She said there was no timeframe for the probe.
Vinod Khosla, Inspector in the Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, had raised an alarm over the supply of substandard crates to the godowns. Crates are used to store wheat in government-run storages.
He communicated this anomaly to the Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government, the Chief Secretary, Food Civil Supply and Consumer Affairs, and Director, Vigilance Bureau, and the DGP, Punjab.
In the complaint, he claimed that in connivance with officials of the department substandard crates were being supplied to godowns of Pungrain, which are situated in the district. He said while rates were charged for good quality crates, inferior ones were supplied. Thus, it caused financial losses to the government.
He said 15,000 crates were supplied in this border district while the proposal was to procure 1 lakh crates for the godowns of the entire state.
A crate should weigh at least 40 kg. However, he found the crates being supplied weighed below 40 kg, which amounted to cheating with the department and the firm concerned should be blacklisted.
