Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on Monday sought a report from the Chief Secretary on the allegations of corruption raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party on the procurement of rice meant for free distribution among ration cardholders.
In a WhatsApp message to reporters on the petition given by a BJP delegation to her on Monday morning, the Lt Governor said, “The petition is being forwarded to the Chief Secretary for a report within a week on all points on which the delegation has sought answers.”
The BJP delegation, led by State unit president V. Saminathan, has requested the Lt Governor to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into corruption in procurement of rice.
In its ten-point demand, the BJP said the government had not followed e-tendering process in the procurement of rice. The point of sale equipment procured for public distribution system outlets were not put to use to facilitate corruption.
Poor quality
There had been complaints about procurement of poor quality rice which was unfit for human consumption and action was not taken against those involved in the purchase of such rice. The rice was purchased from traders outside the Union Territory, thereby hurting the business interest of local traders, the petition said. The party raised the issue of diversion of rice not purchased by cardholders to open market.
Mr. Saminathan told presspersons that in the last three-and-a-half years, rice was distributed for only 17 months and for five months, cash was remitted in the accounts of the beneficiaries.
The money budgeted for the remaining months had been diverted to other schemes, he alleged and added that the procurement and distribution of rice was not transparent.
