India’s latest rice scam involves Rs 200,000 crore December 07, 2010

India’s latest rice scam involves Rs 200,000 crore

December 07, 2010 at 20:35

NEW DELHI (Commodity Online) : The latest of the scam series in India, the UP rice scam could be the biggest of them all, even outdistancing the so called 2G Spectrum scam.

According to reports, a huge stock of food grain meant for distribution under the Antyodaya, Annapurna and Mid-Day Meal schemes was smuggled outside the state and even the country to Bangladesh, Nepal and other nations. It is believed that top officials of the state as well as the central government colluded to divert the food grain between 2001 and 2007.

The scam involves goofing up of rice worth Rs 200,000 crore. It was a scam that stretched to almost 7 years and 300 FIRs. The scam was reported in Uttar Pradesh between 2003-2007, the period when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadev was the chief minister of the UP.

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court ordered the state investigative agencies to refer the case to the CBI and wrap up the investigations in 6 months.

The High Court made some stinging observations slamming the highest authorities in the state for colluding to snatch food from India's poorest.

The court observed that there was prima facie no doubt that the food grains meant for poor had been smuggled into the open market and also into the neighbouring countries and none of that could have happened without the involvement of higher authorities.

The court also observed that transportation by goods trains to far off corners of the country indicated that smuggling happened in collusion with authorities.

The court went on to say that the judiciary could not remain mute spectators especially in the light of recent corruption scams that had caused huge damage to national development.

The CBI is already probing the massive food grain scam. If CBI sources are to be believed, the scam involves over 200 state and central government officials.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also going to carry out searches and seizures of assets, properties and cash of all officials involved in the scam that revolves around diversion of food grain meant for the poor.

Food grain meant for distribution to the poor either free of cost or at highly subsidised rates in at least 31 districts of UP was diverted out of the state and, in some cases, out of the country by forging documents.

As the UP rice scam leads itself to become the headline news in the coming days, the rest of Indian states where similar malpractices also existed would expedite their jobs in finding covers to the stink now most likely to be open