Vigil up on state-UP border along Karnal to check arrival of PDS rice
Parveen Arora
Karnal, October 13
With the unearthing of an alleged paddy procurement scam in four rice mills and the seizure of 1,424 bags of rice reportedly brought from Bihar in a rice mill in Jundla, the district administration has intensified the vigil at the Haryana-UP border.
Gate passes not issued, farmers protest
- Farmers protested over the non-issuance of gate passes at one of the gates at the Karnal grain market on Thursday
- They raised slogans against the government and demanded the authorities to issue gate passes with immediate effect
- Some of the farmers even went to the NH-44 to block it, but after an appeal by other farmers, they came back
- Sunder Singh Kamboj, secretary, Karnal market committee, said there was an issue at gate number 4 due to a technical error, which was resolved later
Officials vigilant
We have deployed duty magistrates on the Haryana-UP border, along with police force, to check the arrival of paddy and PDS rice from other states in Karnal. Our officials are keeping an eye on every vehicle. Anish Yadav, Deputy commissioner
Challenging task
It was a challenging task for the authorities to keep a check on such people. There should be random physical verification of the mills at regular intervals to verify the allotment of paddy and availability of stock. Admn official
During a raid by the Chief Minister (CM) flying squad, around 80,000 quintals of paddy, worth nearly Rs 16 crore, was found short at grain markets in Jundla.
The duty magistrates, along with the police force, have been deployed round-the-clock at two nakas — Manglora and Shergarh Tapu — on the border.
As per the officials, the step had been taken to check the arrival of the public distribution system (PDS) rice or paddy from other states in the district.
According to officials of the district administration, the PDS rice is recovered from rice mills every year, which is brought at a lower price from other states and used to adjust against the proxy procurement done with the help of fake gate passes.
The arrival of paddy and rice keeps the officials of the district administration on toes every year.
The officials suspect the rice meant for the PDS could be delivered as custom milled rice (CMR) to the state.
“We have deployed duty magistrates on the Haryana-UP border, along with police force, to check the arrival of paddy and PDS rice from other states in Karnal. Our officials are vigilant and keeping an eye on every vehicle,” said Anish Yadav, Deputy Commissioner.
As per sources, farmers from other states come to traders with samples of the PDS rice to finalise the deal.
An official said: “It is a challenging task for the authorities to keep a check on such people. There should be random physical verification of the mills at regular intervals to verify the allotment of paddy and availability of stock.”
The Tribune had highlighted the issue of ‘fake gate passes’ being issued in various grain markets of the district for proxy procurement. After the reports, a team of the CM flying squad inspected the Jundla grain market and three mills, and found discrepancies there.
The team found a shortfall of 66,834 quintals in paddy stock. Besides, a team of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) also conducted a physical verification at another mill and found 13,095 quintals of paddy short than the actual procurement made by the mill.
The Karnal police have already registered an FIR against four millers.
The Chief Administrator of the HSAMB, Sujan Singh, has suspended the secretary of the Jundla grain market, Pawan Chopra, in this regard. Besides, action has been recommended against erring officials of the grain market.
After the issue came to fore, the HSAMB has also increased vigil at the grain market. Eight teams of the HSAMB are on regular checking. “Our teams are inspecting various grain markets of the state to check proxy procurement and the issuance of fake gate passes,” the Chief Administrator said.
