Uttar Pradesh food grain scam
Encyclopedia
Uttar Pradesh food grain scam took place between years 2002 and 2010, in Uttar Pradesh
state in India, wherein food grain
worth , meant to be distributed amongst the poor, through Public Distribution System
(PDS) and other welfare schemes like Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Jawahar Rozgar Yojana and Mid-day Meal Scheme for Below Poverty Line
(BPL) card holders, was diverted to the open market. Some of it was traced to the Nepal and Bangladesh borders, as in 2010 security forces seized Rs 1.17 crore worth of foodgrains like paddy and pulses being smuggled to Nepal, another Rs 60.62 lakh worth of grains were confiscated on the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The scam first came into light in 2003, during the Chief Minister ship of Mulayam Singh, in Gonda district in the distribution of foodgrain meant for the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
and soon complaints started pouring in from other districts as well. After initially ordering an inquiry into the scam Mulayam Singh withdrew it. The Special Investigation Team ( SIT) set up by the Mulayam Singh government in 2006, lodged over 5,000 FIRs. Subsequently the next UP chief minister Mayawati
upon assuming office, ordered a CBI probe into the scam on December 1, 2007. Media dubbed it, "mother of all scams", and TV news channel, Times Now
reported the scam which started in 2002, under the reign of following Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, estimated to be at over . Uttar Pradesh as with other states and UTs, is allocated a monthly quantity of foodgrains, i.e. rice and wheat, by the Central government for distribution amongst AAY, BPL and APL families, under TPDS managed by the state government. For the period from Apri1 2010 to March 2011, this quantity for the state was 528395 tons.
The latest of the scam series in India, initially referred as the 'UP rice scam' could be the biggest of them all, even outdistancing the so called 2G Spectrum scam
. The scam involves goofing up of rice worth . It was a scam that stretched to almost 7 years and 300 FIR
s. The scam was reported in UP (Uttar Pradesh
, India
) between the years 2003-2007, the period when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav
was the chief minister
of the UP.
) family is eligible for 35 kg of rice or wheat every month, while an APL (Above Poverty Line) household is entitled to 15 kg of foodgrains on a monthly basis.
According to a report in Outlook magazine:
(FCI) and when FCI demanded its payment, a project director refused to verify the stock register, gradually it was revealed that they had been selling the grains in the black market and a probe was ordered. As per initial estimates at the time, foodgrain worth Rs 15,000 crore could have been diverted from the Antyodaya Yojana (food-for-work scheme) over the last five years. By December 2004, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had suspended a district magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri
and several officials of the food department and political parties including the CPI, Congress and BJP were increasing pressure on the government to order a CBI probe.
First FIRs in the case were filed in January 2005, when the state government acknowledged the scam to be worth Rs. 45,000 crore under the Central government sponsored Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). Apart 65 officials named in the FIR, further over 300 persons were suggested to involved in the preliminary reports. Apart from that a district magistrate, six ADMs and a few district food and supplies officials were suspended.
In April 2007, Union Minister, Kapil Sibal
demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the illegal sale by private traders who procured the grains from the warehouses of Food Corporation of India
, diverting food grains allotted to the state for the poor. Alleging that the scam took place from August to November 2004, when Rajpal Tyagi was leading the Rural Development ministry.
At first the scam was investigated by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Uttar Pradesh Police
(UPP), followed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Mulayam Singh government, after its investigations in three districts, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Gonda, SIT lodged over 5,000 FIRs.
When Mayawati became Chief Minister, SIT investigations had revealed the scam to be larger in scale and multi-dimensional, covering many welfare schemes like Antyodaya, Sampurana Grameen Swarojgar Yojna during 2002-2005, thus a CBI inquiry on ordered December 1, 2007; the scam was now worth Rs. 35,000 crore.
Two years later in early December 2009, CBI lodged 9 cases, identifying nearly 150 government officials, including some PCS officer as accused; in all nine people were arrested, with one of them being the chief finance and accounts officer of the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) in Ballia
and his junior.
The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, responding to a PIL, on December 23, 2009, directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on all the nine food grain scams in the state from 2000 till January 8, 2010 being investigated by the CBI.
On December 3, 2010, the Lucknow
Bench of the Allahabad High Court
, responding to public interest litigation
(PIL) filed by advocate Vishwanath Chaturvedi, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) to conduct and complete an inquiry within six months, into the foodgrain scam in Gonda, Lucknow, Varanasi
, Ballia
, Lakhimpur and Sitapur
districts. It also stated, that "It shall not be necessary for the CBI or state agencies to obtain sanction under the statutory provision with regard to present controversy where from initial stage, prima facie intentionally, deliberately and in a planned manner, the foodgrains were lifted from godowns for sale either in the open market or to smuggle outside UP or to other countries, " The bench also asked the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government, to consider appropriate amendments in the "Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
. Though period under investigation is till 2007, the court also directed that "it should be open to the CBI and state agencies to proceed with investigation with regard to the scam not only up to 2007 but even beyond in case some link evidence/material is found with regard to continuance of diversion of foodgrain under various schemes of the state and Central governments."
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
state in India, wherein food grain
Food grain
thumb|150px|Barleythumb|150px|LentilGrains are small, hard, dry seeds harvested for human food or animal feed Agronomists also call the plants producing such seeds grains or grain crops....
worth , meant to be distributed amongst the poor, through Public Distribution System
Public Distribution System
Public Distribution System is an Indian food security system. Established by the Government of India under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and managed jointly with state governments in India, it distributes subsidised food and non-food items to India's poor...
(PDS) and other welfare schemes like Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Jawahar Rozgar Yojana and Mid-day Meal Scheme for Below Poverty Line
Below Poverty Line
Below Poverty Line is an economic benchmark and poverty threshold used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from state to state and...
(BPL) card holders, was diverted to the open market. Some of it was traced to the Nepal and Bangladesh borders, as in 2010 security forces seized Rs 1.17 crore worth of foodgrains like paddy and pulses being smuggled to Nepal, another Rs 60.62 lakh worth of grains were confiscated on the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The scam first came into light in 2003, during the Chief Minister ship of Mulayam Singh, in Gonda district in the distribution of foodgrain meant for the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
The Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana was a scheme launched by the Government of India to attain the objective of providing gainful employment for the rural poor. From 1 April 1999, EAS became an allocation-based scheme...
and soon complaints started pouring in from other districts as well. After initially ordering an inquiry into the scam Mulayam Singh withdrew it. The Special Investigation Team ( SIT) set up by the Mulayam Singh government in 2006, lodged over 5,000 FIRs. Subsequently the next UP chief minister Mayawati
Mayawati
Mayawati is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India. She heads the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents the Bahujans or Dalits, the weakest strata of Indian society. This is her fourth term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh...
upon assuming office, ordered a CBI probe into the scam on December 1, 2007. Media dubbed it, "mother of all scams", and TV news channel, Times Now
Times Now
Times Now is a 24-hour English language news channel based in Mumbai and broadcast primarily in the South Asian region. The channel was launched in 2006 as a joint-venture of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., the publishers of The Times of India and Reuters. Arnab Goswami is the Editor-in Chief and...
reported the scam which started in 2002, under the reign of following Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, estimated to be at over . Uttar Pradesh as with other states and UTs, is allocated a monthly quantity of foodgrains, i.e. rice and wheat, by the Central government for distribution amongst AAY, BPL and APL families, under TPDS managed by the state government. For the period from Apri1 2010 to March 2011, this quantity for the state was 528395 tons.
The latest of the scam series in India, initially referred as the 'UP rice scam' could be the biggest of them all, even outdistancing the so called 2G Spectrum scam
2G spectrum scam
The 2G spectrum scandal involved officials in the government of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones...
. The scam involves goofing up of rice worth . It was a scam that stretched to almost 7 years and 300 FIR
First Information Report
A First Information Report or FIR is a written document prepared by the police in India, Pakistan and Japan when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence. It is a report of information that reaches the police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First...
s. The scam was reported in UP (Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
) between the years 2003-2007, the period when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav in Hindi मुलायम सिंह यादव is an Indian politician and has influence mainly in Uttar Pradesh state of India...
was the chief minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of the UP.
Overview
The Central government allocates foodgrains to each state government for distribution through ration shops at subsidised rates to the poor. Under the PDS scheme, each BPL (Below Poverty LineBelow Poverty Line
Below Poverty Line is an economic benchmark and poverty threshold used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from state to state and...
) family is eligible for 35 kg of rice or wheat every month, while an APL (Above Poverty Line) household is entitled to 15 kg of foodgrains on a monthly basis.
According to a report in Outlook magazine:
History
The Regional Food Controller's office in the state is responsible for procuring the foodgrain, while the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) is in charge of its distribution. An embezzlement by a section of officers from the controller's office made news in March 2004, after 70 truckloads of rice meant for distribution was lifted from the Food Corporation of IndiaFood Corporation of India
Food Corporation of India was setup on 14th January 1965 having its first District Office at Thanjavur - rice bowl of Tamil Nadu - and headquarters at Chennai under the Food Corporations Act 1964 to implement the following objectives of the National Food Policy :# Effective price support...
(FCI) and when FCI demanded its payment, a project director refused to verify the stock register, gradually it was revealed that they had been selling the grains in the black market and a probe was ordered. As per initial estimates at the time, foodgrain worth Rs 15,000 crore could have been diverted from the Antyodaya Yojana (food-for-work scheme) over the last five years. By December 2004, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had suspended a district magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri
Lakhimpur Kheri
Lakhimpur Kheri is a district of Uttar Pradesh in the Lucknow division. It is located in India along the border with Nepal. The headquarters of the Lakhimpur Kheri District are situated in the city of Lakhimpur....
and several officials of the food department and political parties including the CPI, Congress and BJP were increasing pressure on the government to order a CBI probe.
First FIRs in the case were filed in January 2005, when the state government acknowledged the scam to be worth Rs. 45,000 crore under the Central government sponsored Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). Apart 65 officials named in the FIR, further over 300 persons were suggested to involved in the preliminary reports. Apart from that a district magistrate, six ADMs and a few district food and supplies officials were suspended.
In April 2007, Union Minister, Kapil Sibal
Kapil Sibal
Kapil Sibal is an Indian politician and lawyer. He is currently the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. He also held the two ministries Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet...
demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the illegal sale by private traders who procured the grains from the warehouses of Food Corporation of India
Food Corporation of India
Food Corporation of India was setup on 14th January 1965 having its first District Office at Thanjavur - rice bowl of Tamil Nadu - and headquarters at Chennai under the Food Corporations Act 1964 to implement the following objectives of the National Food Policy :# Effective price support...
, diverting food grains allotted to the state for the poor. Alleging that the scam took place from August to November 2004, when Rajpal Tyagi was leading the Rural Development ministry.
At first the scam was investigated by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Uttar Pradesh Police
Uttar Pradesh Police
Uttar Pradesh Police is the police force of the state of Uttar Pradesh. UP Police is the largest police force in the world working under a single command.The Uttar Pradesh Police was formed in 1861 when the Indian Police Act came to be operational...
(UPP), followed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Mulayam Singh government, after its investigations in three districts, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Gonda, SIT lodged over 5,000 FIRs.
When Mayawati became Chief Minister, SIT investigations had revealed the scam to be larger in scale and multi-dimensional, covering many welfare schemes like Antyodaya, Sampurana Grameen Swarojgar Yojna during 2002-2005, thus a CBI inquiry on ordered December 1, 2007; the scam was now worth Rs. 35,000 crore.
Two years later in early December 2009, CBI lodged 9 cases, identifying nearly 150 government officials, including some PCS officer as accused; in all nine people were arrested, with one of them being the chief finance and accounts officer of the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) in Ballia
Ballia
Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of the Ganges and the Ghaghara...
and his junior.
The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, responding to a PIL, on December 23, 2009, directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on all the nine food grain scams in the state from 2000 till January 8, 2010 being investigated by the CBI.
On December 3, 2010, the Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
Bench of the Allahabad High Court
Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is a high court having jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh since 1950...
, responding to public interest litigation
Public interest litigation
In Indian law, Public Interest Litigation OR जनहित याचिका means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party...
(PIL) filed by advocate Vishwanath Chaturvedi, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
(CBI) to conduct and complete an inquiry within six months, into the foodgrain scam in Gonda, Lucknow, Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
, Ballia
Ballia
Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of the Ganges and the Ghaghara...
, Lakhimpur and Sitapur
Sitapur
Sitapur formerly spelled as Citapore is a town and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is in the Lucknow Division of Uttar Pradesh...
districts. It also stated, that "It shall not be necessary for the CBI or state agencies to obtain sanction under the statutory provision with regard to present controversy where from initial stage, prima facie intentionally, deliberately and in a planned manner, the foodgrains were lifted from godowns for sale either in the open market or to smuggle outside UP or to other countries, " The bench also asked the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government, to consider appropriate amendments in the "Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is a federal law enacted by the Parliament of India to combat corruption in government agencies and public sector businesses in India...
. Though period under investigation is till 2007, the court also directed that "it should be open to the CBI and state agencies to proceed with investigation with regard to the scam not only up to 2007 but even beyond in case some link evidence/material is found with regard to continuance of diversion of foodgrain under various schemes of the state and Central governments."
External links
- PDS - Department of Food and Public Distribution, Official website at Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public DistributionMinistry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (India)The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is a government ministry of India. The Ministry is headed by a minister of Cabinet rank...