Rampant corruption in Bengeri Khadi Sangha, alleges Puttappa

Seeks inquiry against Sangha and KVIC officials

March 05, 2015 06:19 pm | Updated 06:19 pm IST - HUBBALLI

Alleging of rampant corruption in the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyog Samyukta Sangha, which has the sole BIS accredited national flag production unit, veteran journalist and President of Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha, Patil Puttappa has sought inquiry into irregularities in the Sangha and also against KVIC officials.

Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Patil Puttappa who is also the chairman of the Advisory Committee for Karnataka Khadi Gramodyog Sanghas, said that because of the corruption, the Khadi Samyukta Sangha at Bengeri in Hubballi, which had its own history was on the verge of closure.

Mr. Puttappa said that both the chairman and secretary of the Sangha were running the Sangha according to their whims and fancies and there was no transparency at all.

He said that the Chairman of the Sangha, K.V. Pattar had supplied mill cloth projecting it as khadi worth Rs. 14 lakhs and the same had been rejected and returned back to the Sangha. “Although the State Government had sanctioned Rs. 3 crore for the upgradation of the national flag production unit, the Sangha’s chairman and secretary did not use it because they had to get it through the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad and had to maintain transparency in its utilisation”, Mr. Puttappa said.

“What is surprising to us is the silence of the officials of Khadi and Village Industries Commission(KVIC). They are required to inspect the Khadi Sanghas and certify the production of Khadi. However Sanghas which do not have ‘charakhas’ and ‘maggas’ (handlooms) and those having hardly 5-10 employees are ‘producing’ khadi cloths worth crores of rupees as per the official documents”, he said.

Mr. Puttappa said that already he had written to Union Minister for MSME, Kalraj Mishra and also to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking inquiry into the irregularities and corrective measures.

Convener of the Committee, Umesh Baligar said that they would also approach the Lokayukta seeking inquiry into the irregularities.

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