Earning the distinction of procuring maximum paddy in the State this rabi apart, the district administration has been facing questions over transparency in the procurement process that was on for two months.
According to documentary evidence, ten lorries laden with 1,904 quintal of paddy procured from ten farmers had left the Indira Kranthi Patham centre at Khudavanpur village in Nalgonda, on April 12, 13 and 14. And ₹30.27 lakh valued for 4,760 bags of ‘A’ grade paddy (at ₹1,590 per quintal) was deposited in the ‘respective farmers’ accounts soon after.
However, the ‘ten farmers’ do not belong here, say the villagers. And the lorries did not transport the load, or the paddy in question never existed in reality, an inspection report by the Area Coordinator says.
It was learnt that the officials at the IKP centre produced truck sheets without procuring paddy, and the same were acknowledged by the designated rice mill owners who were offered 2% commission, while the payments into farmers’ accounts were approved by the District Manager, Civil Supplies Corporation. Numbers on the sheets with mill owners and those fed into tablets also show discrepancies, including repetitions, mismatches in bill numbers and farmers’ names.
Responding on the issue, District Rural Development Officer R. Anjaiah said the one-month-old issue was already solved and a village book-keeper and marketing community resource persons were suspended ‘for not following procedures’.
“Neither was there a diversion of government money, nor a fraud committed. Paddy procurement took place, the truck sheets were written, and money was deposited in farmers’ accounts after paddy loads reached the mill,” he said.
Other officials in the DRDA and District Civil Supplies Office, however, believe that the whole episode has occurred, and it would not have been possible without the collusion of senior officials and mill owners. “The book-keeper is made a scapegoat,” an official, requesting anonymity, said.
