It's rice again that is causing embarrassment to the Chhattisgarh government. Already in the dock over the distribution of sub-standard quality rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Ajit Jogi government now faces charges over rice that never reached the beneficiaries.At least 1,000 quintals of rice, which was to be stored in Mahasamund district after custom milling, neither reached its destination nor was it sent for quality testing. The rice, which was supposed to have been distributed among BPL families in the district under PDS, never reached the beneficiaries.With officials of the Chhattisgarh Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN), who handled the rice stock, unable to explain how it disappeared, Chief Minister Ajit Jogi last week suspended NAN district manager R.K. Aggarwal and terminated the services of technical officer Paramjit Singh Gurudatta.Minister for Food and Supplies Mohammad Akbar admitted, ‘‘the rice valued approximately at Rs 21 lakh has been misappropriated by (NAN) officials. Two separate inquiries, which I ordered into the incident last month, have confirmed the irregularities. Last week, I submitted a report to the CM who subsequently took prompt action.’’BJP MLA Brij Mohan Aggarwal, however, said, ‘‘officials have been made scapegoats to shield the real culprits.’’ He alleged that top government functionaries were involved in the scam and demanded a high-level inquiry into all previous scams.
