Probe ordered against Nagpur agriculture officers

NAGPUR: Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil has taken a strong objection to allotment of tractors to ineligible institutions by agriculture department under the Agriculture Mechanization Programme 2010-11 in Nagpur area. He asked Sanjay Saokare, minister of state for agriculture, to personally enquire into this issue and submit a report to the House.
The issue was raised by Chandrapur MLA Nana Shamkule during the question hour.He pointed out that a team from Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) office had found that of the 32 institutions to which tractors were allotted in 2010-11, 21 are ineligible. Saokare said that CAG had pointed out that there is no provision in the by-laws of the institutions to take help from agriculture department. However, the by-laws were amended later. He further said that the names were finalized on the basis of report received from charity commissioner.
Both Sudhakar Deshmukh and Devendra Fadnavis demanded action against these 21 institutions and the officials involved in the illegal allotment. When the minister agreed for an enquiry, Walse asked him to do it himself.