Hindustan Times: Ludhiana: Sunday, September 14, 2014.
An official
reply obtained under the Right To Information (RTI) Act has revealed a Rs.
62-crore scam, allegedly involving Markfed officials during 2012-13. In reply
to an RTI application, Markfed has revealed embezzlement of paddy stocks by
rice sheller owners to the tune of more than Rs. 62 crore in the districts of
Moga, Jalandhar, Faridkot, Gurdaspur and Muktsar. The rest of the districts,
including Ludhiana, are yet to provide information about the scam.
Local
resident KC Sabharwal, a retired Markfed employee, said he had submitted an RTI
application around three months ago to the public information officer (PIO),
Markfed, demanding details of the scam. The PIO had directed district branches
of Markfed to give information in this regard.
According to
details provided by district branches of Markfed, the Moga district branch
incurred loss of around Rs. 35.13 crore, Gurdaspur (Rs 21.55 crore), Faridkot
(Rs 4.92 crore), Jalandhar (Rs 2.43 crore) and Muktsar (Rs 1.47 crore). Markfed
has sent the matter for arbitration.
During the
probe, it was found that Markfed officials had got stored with rice sheller
owners more paddy than the entitlement against a paltry security deposit (1.5%
of the cost of paddy).
Markfed
managing director Gurkirat Kirpal Singh could not be contacted despite several
attempts.
When asked
about the embezzlement and the role of officials, Markfed chief manager AS
Sekhon said he was not authorised to make any statement on the matter.
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