RAIPUR: Amid a four-member central team visiting Chhattisgarh to probe an alleged rice scam, the opposition BJP on Friday demanded the resignation of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel alleging that 68,000 tons of rice, meant for the poor, was siphoned off in the state.
“The rice was meant for the poor. Snatching food from the poor is a crime against humanity,” BJP Member of Parliament, Sunil Soni told reporters in the state capital.
The Union food ministry had deputed a four-member central team to investigate a complaint of BJP president and former chief minister Raman Singh that rice supplied under ‘PM Garib Kalyan Yojana’ did not reach the beneficiaries. Singh, who had raised the issue during the last session of the Vidhan Sabha, had also sent a letter to the Union food minister, demanding a probe into the alleged scam.
“Many scams are unfolding now. However, rice scam come in the category of heinous crime as it deprived the poor of their food,” Soni said while pointing fingers at chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Soni further alleged, “Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, an additional allocation of 1.385 lakh tons rice is being made to Chhattisgarh every month from the Centre to benefit more than two crore people of the state at the rate of Rs 5 per kg. But hardly one-third of the people are getting this benefit. Congress government has snatched this benefit from about 1.5 crore poor people.”
He pointed out that the state government had accepted in the Assembly that every month additional 385 lakh tonnes of rice is being allocated to Chhattisgarh by the Centre. Therefore, on the basis of the official rate of rice at Rs 32 per kg, roughly this scam is more than Rs 5000 crores, the MP claimed.
BJP had seeked an apology from Congress party and demanded a high-level inquiry into this scam.
Congress has hit back saying the state government has so far registered FIR against 6000 ration shops across the state in connection with the rice scam. “We are not hiding the fact as former chief minister Raman Singh (from BJP) did in the Nagrik Aapurti Nigam (NAN) scam. We are taking action,” said Congress communication department head Sushil Anand Shukla.
On central teams probe, he said that the state government welcomes the investigation. “Did former chief minister Raman Singh resigned when NAN scam was exposed during his tenure? He should have set this trend,” he said.
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