Bigger probe spike pricks rice scam

LUCKNOW: Taking serious cognisance of the Rs 88.11 lakh rice scam, the state government has ordered a high-level probe to take action against erring officials who had misappropriated 7,135 quintal of rice in Basti.
Exposing the scam in its edition on October 12, The Times of India Lucknow had brought to the government''s notice how 70 truckloads (about 7,135 quintal) of rice were withdrawn from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns by the Food and Civil Supplies Department before they could reach the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) for distribution under the Sampoorna Gramin Rojgar Yojana (SGRY).
The lot was sold allegedly in the open market, and money filled the officials'' pockets. The scam was detected when the then project director of the DRDA refused to verify stock register and sign bill raised for payment of the rice stock.
A First Information Report was lodged in Khalilabad in May 2004 to investigate the scam and lodge criminal cases against the guilty. But police inquiry was marred by influential officials of the department, and the matter was pushed under cover.
The matter was brought to the knowledge of higher officials again in August when the FCI pressed for payment of the cost of the stock from the department. In the letter dated August 11, the FCI ordered to recover the loss from dues payable by the department.
The order fluttered the department, and officials tried to keep the scam under wraps by requesting the FCI to adjust the misappropriated rice stock in other schemes. Finally, TOI blew the lid off the scam on October 12, forcing the Mulayam government to probe the matter by a senior officer.
Earlier, the Mulayam government had directed regional food controller (RFC) Basti DC Dubey to probe against then marketing inspector Satyendra Pratap Singh and role of RFC Gorakhpur CP Tripathi. After the TOI report, the government handed over the probe to special secretary Food and Civil Supplies Hari Shanker Pandey.
Pandey has visited Basti and other places, and collected documents from the FCI and the DRDA, and, he has inquired the project director of the SGRY and other officials.
Confirming the probe, principal secretary Food and Civil Supplies PC Chaturvedi told TOI on Friday that action would follow against erring officials once the special secretary submitted the report.