AP govt liberal to fraudsters!

Revokes suspension of 26 personnel

​Vijayawada: The AP government took a liberal view of the accused involved in a scam reported in the cotton procurements under MSP (minimum support price) operations during 2014-15 by revoking the suspension of 26 ‘tainted’ employees in different cadres. B Rajasekhar, Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (Vig-II) department, issued a memo (No. 7837/Vig-II (1)/2017-2 dated 12-04-2017, absolving all of them of guilt.

Coincidentally, the memo was issued on the day when Minister for Marketing Ch Adinarayana Reddy assumed charge. The memo reads, “Government after careful examination of the entire matter have observed that the records pertaining to the case have already been seized and therefore the question of tampering of records pertaining to the case does not arise.

It is further observed that the charges were already framed against them and continuing them under suspension is not appropriate and every possibility is there to influence the witnesses and giving subsistence allowance without assigning any work is infructuous expenditure to the government exchequer.” The memo was issued close on the heels of a representation submitted by the Andhra Rayalaseema Agricultural Market Committee Employees Association on March 31, this year.

In line with the memo, the Commissioner and Director of Marketing has been directed to take back four officers figuring in the case with an immediate effect who include Y Rajamohan Reddy, S Venkatasubbanna and A Rahiman, all in DDM (Deputy Director, Marketing) cadre.

In respect of other 22marketing staff, the Commissioner and Director of the Marketing department is directed to reinstate them into service by revoking the suspension orders “without prejudice to the disciplinary proceedings pending against them and submit a compliance report”.

The memo further directed the Director and the Commissioner to post them in “non-focal’ posts away from the place where the offence was reported.

It may be recalled that the department of marketing has earned notoriety with the scam involving fabrication of records by wrongly showing the procurement of cotton at minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 4,000 per quintal from farmers allegedly by a section of black sheep in collusion with the middlemen.

The role of Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) was also suspected in the fraud which attracted the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Vigilence and Enforcement Department to indulge in in-depth probes. It was alleged that the middlemen procured cotton produce from farmers at Rs 3,000 per quintal outside the market yards over the MSP of Rs 4,000 in violation of the guidelines.

Records were fabricated in the marketing department showing that the produce was procured at Rs 4,000. By doing so, fake bills were generated showing disbursal of MSP price to fake farmers in nexus with a section of personnel in the marketing department and in the CCI and withdrew funds at the rate of Rs 1000 per quintal.

Even as the case filed by the CBI was pending in the CBI court in Visakhapatnam, the Vigilance and Enforce department, AP, submitted a report, establishing the role of 96 personnel and a whopping sum of Rs 650cr was subjected to embezzlement. However, the government suspended only 26 persons. The fraud was suspected to have been reported in 43 market yards with the procurement of 93 lakh quintals through fraudulent means.