Mustard purchase scam in Mahendragarh
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 29
Four officials of the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) have been suspended and chargesheeted following a scam in mustard procurement involving issuance of gate passes without arrival of the crop. The licences of 15 arhtiyas (traders) have been suspended and orders issued for registration of an FIR.
Modus Operandi
- Officials of the market committee used to issue gate passes in excess of the actual arrival of mustard crop
- The procurement agencies involved then released the payment without getting physical possession of the crop
The arhtiyas completed the stock later by arranging the mustard crop from the open market or from Rajasthan
Gate passes found to have been issued for nearly 4,000 bags in excess of actual quantity of mustard procured
J Ganesan, Chief Administrator of the HSAMB, has suspended the secretaries-cum-executive officers of the Kanina, Ateli, Mahendragarh and Narnaul market committees in Mahendragarh district and issued them chargesheets after a probe by the district authorities found gate passes having been issued for nearly 4,000 bags in excess of the actual quantity procured. “The licences of 15 arhtiyas involved in the scam have been suspended. The process for cancelling their licences will be started. We are writing to Hafed and the Haryana Warehousing Corporation for action against their officials involved in the scam. I have ordered registration of an FIR,” Ganesan said.
He said he had told the Deputy Commissioner to conduct a probe after receiving complaints that some arhtiyas, in connivance with HSAMB officials and procurement agencies, were siphoning government money in the name of mustard purchase. Similar complaints had been received from Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa, but the authorities there were yet to complete their probes, said Ganesan.
Haryana procures eight quintals per acre of mustard at the MSP of Rs 4,425 from only those farmers who have registered their crop on the government portal ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora’. In the open market or in Rajasthan, the crop is available at Rs 4,000 per quintal or even at lower rates.
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