Against the grain

And in that lies the story of the biggest foodgrain scandal to hit the state8217;s 40 districts 8212; one which overshadows even Laloo8217;s fodder scandal8212;if the Rs 45,000 crore figure quoted by the Opposition is true. What an initial probe in Gonda and Lakhimpur by Prabhat C Chaturvedi, principal secretary of Food and Civil Supplies, points to, is just the beginning of a sinister tale.

UTTAR Pradesh is the biggest consumer of the Central government8217;s subsidised foodgrain schemes for the poor. It was in 2002 that the whistle was blown on the scandal by Lakhimpur-based lawyer Kranti Kumar Singh who is also a CPI activist. 8216;8216;I happened to visit a village suspecting that not enough red ration cards under the Antodaya scheme were being made for the poor. However, the villagers showed me blank ration cards saying they8217;d never received any foodgrain at all. I questioned the gram pradhans and block presidents but they said that rations were not coming at all. I became suspicious and wrote to the concerned officials. Action, however, came as late as August 2004,8217;8217; Singh says.

8216;8216;The scam extends to all subsidised foodgrain distribution schemes in Lakhimpur Kheri. Irrespective of who it is meant for, the accused have diverted all the rations,8217;8217; says K L Meena, Deputy Inspector General of the Food Cell. His department was investigating the case till the probe was transferred to the Economic Offences Wing.

NOT that there has been no firefighting. The Mulayam government has suspended over 300 officials including the district magistrate of Lakhimpur and arrested another 111 officers in Lakhimur and Gonda. More than 65 FIRs have been filed against 500 officials in Lakhimpur alone in the last one month after a detailed probe was assigned to the Food Cell of the UP police.

Last week on January 7, 2005, chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav shifted the probe to the Economic Offences Wing. This has set off yet another controversy. The Congress has been demanding that the case be handed over to the CBI.

Says Salman Khursheed, state president of the Congress: 8216;8216;The Mulayam Singh government is trying to hush up the multicrore scam by handing over the probe to the EOW. We have moved the High Court for its intervention and the Lucknow branch of the Allahabad HC has directed the state government to submit all files related with the case by January 19.8217;8217;

Meanwhile, Raja Bhaiyya, the state8217;s food and civil supplies minister and Rajpal Tyagi, the rural development minister have begun the familiar game of passing the blame to one another.