Chandigarh: The Punjab government has said it has initiated a vigilance probe into a Rs 150-crore scam in the distribution of crop residue management machines among farmers during the previous dispensation led by Congress.
Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, in a statement on Wednesday, said during a physical verification, that a total of 11,275 machines were not found with the beneficiaries and ordered a thorough probe into it.
Punjab Agriculture Minister kuldeep Dhaliwal orders vigilance probe in Rs 150-crore farm scam He said the central sector scheme of promotion of agriculture mechanization for in-situ management of crop residue was implemented by the previous government from 2018-19 to 2021-22. He said according to an initial investigation by the agriculture department, it appears that a sum of Rs 125-150 crore has been misused.
Giving details, the minister said under this scheme, a total of 90,422 machines for crop residue management have been provided to the beneficiary farmers, registered farmer groups, cooperative societies, farmer producers’ organizations, and panchayats between 2018-19 and 2021-22. Of these, 83,986 machines were provided by the department of agriculture and the remaining by registered cooperative societies.
Following reports that many of these machines provided on subsidy were not made available to eligible farmers, Dhaliwal said, he directed the agriculture department to conduct a physical verification. During the physical verification which was completed on August 16, a total of 11,275 machines were found to be not with the beneficiaries, he said.
Alleging former CM Captain Amarinder Singh, Kuldeep Dhaliwal said "Captain Amarinder Singh will also be under the scanner and if required he will also be questioned." The sources said names of top bureaucrats who served the department during the past four years could crop up. The Finance Department is already probing the matter as the grant was not deposited in the state’s consolidated fund, but came into the account of the Agriculture Director.
(With agency inputs)
