Haryana LoP Hooda alleges major scam in procurement of paddy

Chandigarh: Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday claimed that a “scam worth thousands of crores” in paddy procurement is happening in the state as the official purchase figures had surged this season despite widespread crop losses caused by floods.

The Congress leader said: “The arrival of paddy in the markets was shown to be more than the production, whereas the truth is that this time a large portion of the paddy was destroyed due to floods. Haryana farmers continued to struggle for MSP, but the BJP government did not pay them. Despite this, procurement was shown to be even higher than the previous season. This clearly indicates a scam worth hundreds of thousands of crores.”

The former Chief Minister said that the investigation report of the “scam that was exposed last time, has not yet been released, and another scam has surfaced in Karnal”.

“This is not limited to Karnal... is happening throughout Haryana, as no farmer is receiving the MSP for his crop. This government is neither providing MSP, nor compensation, nor fertiliser to farmers. Farmers are being made to stand in queues to receive fertiliser and are being labelled as criminals. This is an insult to the food provider,” he said.