Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly has talked about another potential corruption involving the procurement of paddy in the state. Mr Adhikari today claimed that while the ration distribution scam has garnered attention, the tip of the iceberg lies in the fake paddy procurement scheme, siphoning off hundreds of crores.
According to Adhikari’s statement, the food and supplies department in Bengal has been registering the names of farmers, who were purportedly willing to sell their harvest at the minimum support price (MSP). The numbers are staggering, with 4,64,616 registered farmers in 2017-18, rising to a whopping 28,15,107 in 2021-22, which indicates a sudden and massive addition of 5,46,598 farmers in that year alone.
The BJP MLA urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to verify the details of these registered farmers, as he claimed to have reliable sources within the department confirming that more than 60 per cent of them are fake.
Adhikari alleged that payments for fake paddy procurement, accounting for over 50 per cent of the actual procurement, were made through state-level cooperative societies (SKUS) that operate under the influence of ruling party leaders.
Rice mills involved in paddy procurement reportedly made payments to these SKUS, which then deposited the funds into bogus accounts. He further emphasized that an audit of these SKUS and a thorough examination of the accounts where these funds were deposited would reveal the magnitude of the alleged scam.