Tags:
Journalism of Courage
PUNE, Nov 15: Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Datta Meghe today stated that his ministry has uncovered a major fraud to the tune of Rs 25 crore in the ambitious nutritious food scheme for school children in Maharashtra.
The scheme, run by the Central Government offers three kilos of rice per month to students upto Std V.
In Sangli, a fraud of about Rs 70 lakh has come to light where a merchant Badrinarayan Laddha has been taken into custody for his alleged involvement in the scheme. Another merchant Arvind Mundada from Solapur has been taken into custody for his alleged involvement in the Rs 1.24 crore fraud in the same scheme, he said. The minister said that criminal action will be soon be initiated against the offenders.
Meghe also alleged irregularities in the Annapurna Yojana run by the State where 10 kilos of food grains are offered to lower middle class families at subdidised rates of Rs 2 per kg. According to the minister, a sample survey of 598 fair price shops revealed that the bogus yellow ration cards were granted in at least 304 cases. A similar problem was noticed in 99 cases in Sangli where the survey was conducted in around 200 fair price shops. A subsidy of Rs 70 crore has been provided by the government for this scheme.
Meghe mentioned that the Stable Price8217; scheme caused a burden of Rs 500 crore on the State exchequer and alleged irregularities in the scheme. He said that investigations were in progress on this scheme. The minister hinted at the possibility of removing the facility of providing foodgrains to the upper middle classes through their ration cards.
No remote control8217;
Meghe dismissed as baseless the statement of former union minister S B Chavan accusing Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar of being in direct control in the State.
8220;There is neither any direct control or remote control,8221; he maintained and said that they hoped for a larger role for the NCP chief in national politics.
Asked to comment on how he managed to wrangle a ministry when he was neither an MP nor an MLA, Meghe replied that he had expressed his desire to work for the welfare of citizens in the State and hence was given a suitable opportunity to do so.
