Major scam on Diwali day unearthed in Punjab; secretary requests special DGP, VB to investigate it on urgent basis
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ November 13,2023
Today, the secretary food, civil supplies and consumer affairs Punjab government Gurkirat Kirpal Singh has written an official letter/ DO letter to the special DGP, vigilance bureau, Punjab Varinder Kumar to investigate the purchase of paddy on the Diwali day in Punjab and request him to treat this issue on most urgent.
The secretary said, “ the pattern of arrivals of paddy in the past few days points to serious discrepancies. An unprecedented arrival of 4.7 lakh MT has been booked by Market Committee officials on the day of Diwall where as such an arrival has never been experienced on this festive day since farmers are aware that the staff, labour and Arhtiyas are unavailable. This clearly points to an attempt by unscrupulous elements to recycle paddy and book fake purchases.’
He added that “ in addition substantial number of Mandis had been closed across the State including border Districts of Sangrur. Ropar, Palhankot, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Muktsar as there were unsubstantiated reports of attempts to get paddy from neighboring states into Punjab. The closure of certain Mandis would have ensured that the remaining Mandis were better monitored and such illegal attempts were checked. However, officials of Market Committees have continued to accept paddy on subsequent days in closed Mandis In complete violation of the directions. This matter also requires to be inquired into as it is very likely that the source of paddy in these purchase centres has not originated from Punjab.”
“You are requested to kindly investigate the matter and take action against any miler / transporter/ Labour contractor/ government official who has attempted to book fake purchases of paddy in the Mandi. The officials may kindly assess the quantity of paddy lying in the purchase centres immediately which will be sufficient proof of the shortage between the paddy booked in the papers and that which is physically available. Attempts might also be made to show that some of the paddy has been transported but a realistic assessment of the time taken between arrival, cleaning, bagging and transportation as well as the physical presence of Farmers may be made before such reasoning is accepted” added Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, secretary food, civil supplies and consumer affairs Punjab government.
Major scam on Diwali night unearthed in Punjab; secretary requests special DGP, VB to investigate it on urgent basis . As per available information, the secretary has also forwarded the Mandi-wise data of arrival of paddy on the Diwali day i.e. November 12,2023 as well as the total arrival till date to the vigilance bureau for investigating the whole issue.
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