Agri-marketing board chargesheets 39 market secys for irregularities

The Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) has initiated major disciplinary action against 39 secretaries of market committees (SMCs) across Karnal, Kaithal, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Fatehabad and Yamunanagar after large-scale irregularities surfaced in kharif 2025 procurement.

Officials confirmed that the secretaries have been chargesheeted under Rule 4(b) for major penalty of the Haryana Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 2016, after it was established that gate passes were generated from multiple IP addresses, raising suspicion of manipulation.

A senior official in the Food and Supplies Department said the action follows a series of FIRs, suspensions and verification reports highlighting glaring discrepancies in paddy and bajra procurement.

Paddy irregularities detected in Karnal belt

In Taraori (Karnal), SMC secretary Sanjeev Sachdeva allegedly granted permission to multiple rice mills to store paddy at a common site — a practice millers reportedly used to avoid accurate physical verification. When officials checked three mills, they found a shortage of 855 MT of paddy. The Karnal DC lodged an FIR against SMC Taraori and an Inspector of the procurement agency on October 30.

In Karnal mandi, too, the issuance of gate passes from several IP addresses triggered suspensions on October 24. These included Hardeep, Mandi Supervisor; Ashwani, Mandi Supervisor; and Satbir, Auction Recorder.

Further, the ADC Karnal reported that there were “credible inputs that the Mandi Secretary has employed private individuals for issuance of gate passes.” Several passes were issued from IPs located outside the mandi. As a result, an FIR was lodged against SMC Karnal Asha Rani on November 4. Names of Pankaj Tuli, Mandi Supervisor, and Yashpal, Auction Recorder, have also been added to the FIR.

Bajra procurement violations

Irregularities were not limited to paddy. In Kosli mandis, officials found that 4,655 quintals of bajra were missing from physical stock on October 22. Further, 10,046 quintals were not entered in the H register the next day. SMC Kosli Narender Kumar was suspended on October 24, and an FIR followed on October 28.

In Kanina, 4,935 quintals of bajra were unrecorded in both the Market Committee and Commission Agent registers. SMC Kanina Manoj Prasher was suspended on October 24, though the FIR recommended against him on October 7 is still pending.

In Mahendragarh, a massive gap of 53,394.50 quintals was detected between bajra arrival recorded at the incoming gate pass and the outgoing gate pass at the Satnali sub-yard. The SMC Mahendragarh was suspended on October 27, though the FIR recommended against him also remains pending.

Officials said the chargesheets mark the first phase of action and further accountability will be fixed as investigations progress.