No misappropriation of funds: Pawar

March 07, 2013 12:59 am | Updated 12:59 am IST - NEW DELHI:

Downplaying the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the farm loan waiver scheme, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday claimed that there was “no misappropriation” of funds in the Rs. 52,000-crore farm debt waiver scheme.

Noting that the sample size taken up for audit was too small, he sought a comprehensive audit by the CAG to get a better picture.

“The Centre took the decision and money was sent to banks. Accounts and beneficiary list had been selected by banks under the supervision of RBI and NABARD. Money was directly transferred to accounts. Where is the question of misappropriation?” Mr. Pawar told journalists on the sidelines of the Kharif Conference here.

He was reacting to the CAG report on the Agriculture Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008. In the report, the CAG observed that several ineligible farmers were favoured and a large number of deserving small and marginal farmers were left out. It also said RBI and NABARD did not independently monitor the lending institutions in the implementation of the scheme as they were supposed to do.

Mr. Pawar, however, did not rule out the possibility of exclusion of eligible farmers and inclusion of non-eligible farmers in the beneficiary list prepared by banks.

“We have to understand out of 3.7 crore accounts, CAG has taken sample of 90,576 accounts. That means 0.25 per cent accounts have been audited. With such a big scheme announced throughout India, one cannot come to a conclusion with such a small figure. I think I should get more information,” Pawar said adding that the issue should be discussed when significant number of accounts is audited.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.