The Congress has called for the resignation of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, alleging an alleged scandal involving ration distribution. Jeetu Patwari, a prominent Congress politician and former minister claimed that “it is a scandal of at least 2,000 crores.”
“A High Court judge or an impartial organization should conduct an investigation. However, if CM Chouhan stays in his position, such a scenario is not feasible, “Added he.
NDTV relied on a private government audit report to reveal the discrepancies in the take-home ration plan.
The BJP government today disputed the fundamental tenet. “The report was simply a draught. It will receive a prompt response from the Women and Child Development Department. The proposal is not the finished document, “Vishwas Sarang, a state minister, remarked.
In the ambitious free food program for students, the 36-page investigation uncovered widespread fraud, fictitious beneficiaries, and inconsistencies in manufacturing, distribution, and quality control. All this runs the danger of starving children and costing the taxpayers countless sums of money.
“The Women and Child Department said it will spend $2,393.21 crore on 1.35 crore beneficiaries while distributing 4.05 metric tonnes of rations until 2021. However, the registration numbers of the trucks that were allegedly bringing food were those of motorbikes, automobiles, autos, and other small vehicles, according to Congressman Jeetu Patwari.
However, the administration claimed that “clerical mistakes” were to blame for vehicles being misidentified as motorcycles. Minister Vishwas Sarang said, “We collected information from one of the plants in Baadi and found that THR (take-home ration) was transported through 1,734 trucks.
When 34 vehicles were first used, the AG complained, claiming that they weren’t trucks. Due to a clerical error, we discovered that all 34 numbers differed by just one number. Except for that inaccuracy, all numbers related to trucks. The erroneous number was entered in a paper.
Regarding the gap in the number of recipients, he stated that surveys over the years revealed that the number of teenage females eligible for the programme had decreased from 2.6 lakh in 2018–19 to 1.28 lakh in 2020–21. Only 15,000 will be left in 2021, he predicted.
These calls for the resignation of Chief Minister Chouhan have gone unanswered. Chouhan, recently in the headlines for being kicked off the BJP’s highest decision-making body, has not replied.
