The State government has ordered an inquiry against Director of Agriculture Department Ashok Kumar Thekkan for alleged corruption.
Agriculture Secretary Raju Narayana Swamy had recommended the criminal inquiry on the basis of a damning Finance Inspection Wing (FIW) report that had been gathering dust for long. Mr. Swamy had also conducted an examination on his own into the issue.
The FIW had reported that under Mr. Thekkan, the Kerala State Coconut Development Corporation (KSCDC) had procured low-grade raw coconut kernels at higher than market rates from dealers contracted by the Sabarimala temple to buy the offering.
No timely effort was made to extract coconut oil from the kernels.
Strikingly, the KSCDC had bought the same lot of kernels, which was earlier rejected as low grade by Kerafed, the apex cooperative federation of coconut farmers in Kerala.
Interestingly, Mr. Thekkan headed both the organisations at the time of the contentious purchase.
The FIW also found that the actual stock of copra found in the Corporation’s warehouses was much lesser than that entered in the stock register. It pegged the discrepancy in stock at Rs.130 lakh.
The previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government had ignored the FIW’s recommendations and merely sought an explanation from the suspect officer.
Preliminary inquiry
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) also initiated a preliminary inquiry into the allegation that Mr. Thekkan had attempted to illegally alienate premium property owned by the Corporation at Edappally in Ernakulam and valued at Rs.210 crore to a private party at less than Rs.30 crore.
The VACB would also investigate allegations of corruption in the Kerala State Seed Development Authority, including the award of certain tenders and suspected back-door appointments at the Coconut Complex at Mammam in Attingal.
The inquiry against Mr. Thekkan comes hard on the heels of a comparable anti-corruption inquiry against Horticorp Managing Director M. Suresh Kumar. Both were picks of the previous government and have since been removed from their respective positions.
