Food scam: Sharad Pawar shifts blame on UP govt-TNN, Dec 7, 2010,

Food grain scam: Mayawati under pressure to act

TNN, Dec 7, 2010, 11.15am IST



NEW DELHI: In what is being called the mother of all scams, food grain meant for the poorest of the poor has been smuggled out of Uttar Pradesh into the open market and even to a neighbouring country. Starting from 2002, under the reign of different chief ministers, the scam is estimated at over Rs 2 lakh crore, Times Now reported.

The scam leaves all political parties that have ruled Uttar Pradesh in the past decade culpable.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati is now under pressure to order a full-scale investigation into the matter. The probe will examine the food theft starting from 2002 to the present, Times Now added.

The scam has drawn ire of the nation and political parties. Reacting to the scam, Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said, "The political establishment cannot possibly escape the blame for this scam. To say that now that the court has passed orders we are all going to follow it is something very obvious. Everybody has to follow the court's order because it is the law of the land. But that still does not answer the question why the political establishment did not order a full inquiry.

BJP General Secretary, Ravishankar Prasad added, "It is atrocious to say with the court will also investigate their own period. We are dealing with the poorest of the poor and the very question of their livelihood. This is something very fundamental for which we do politics. Therefore I would have really appreciated if Mayawati had said that if there was something wrong in her previous regime I myself will order an inquiry and let the guilty be punished."

A CBI probe into a multi-thousand crore scam involving the diversion of food grain meant for the poorest families in UP could embarrass Mulayam Singh and his partymen who were in power when the scam happened.

A division bench of the Allahabad HC directed the CBI to start the inquiry into the swindle that diverted food grain for BPL card holders in several districts in UP.

The scam, which reportedly started in 2004 during SP's rule, left hungry those covered under the Antyodaya Scheme, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana and Mid-Day Meal Scheme.