Cong councillor himself applied for Rs 2/kg rice under Khadya Sathi, confirms Mayor

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee on Wednesday said Congress councillor Prakash Upadhyay himself had applied for Khadya Sathi project under which rice at Rs 2 per kilo is given to those coming from economically challenged background.

For quite sometime, Upadhyay had been alleging that his name along with his spouse's name had come in the list of those entitled to get rice under the Khadya Sathi project. He alleged that this was deliberately done to malign him by some KMC officials. He had placed the matter in KMC's monthly meeting and demanded stern action against the errant officials. Accordingly, Chatterjee conducted an inquiry in which it was found that Upadhyay had himself filled up the required forms and applied for Rs 2 a kg rice.

"I have conducted a thorough investigation into the matter and found that Upadhyay himself had applied for it. The signatures that have appeared on the applications are his signature. Now, he should tell me against whom I should take action. It was not the fault of the officials. Had they committed any mistake I could have taken action against them but I cannot take action against an elected person."

He said that KMC's administration is transparent and officials and employees found not to have discharged their duties properly are pulled up. But a people's representative should behave sensibly before making any allegation." He said healthy criticism is welcome but such irresponsible behaviour from a Councillor is uncalled for."