RAIPUR: In a significant decision, the Vishnu Deo Sai cabinet on Wednesday has decided to recommend an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged corruption and irregularities in the recruitment of Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) examination-2021.
The state cabinet citing its aim to safeguard the interest of the youths, has decided to hand over the issue of recruitment irregularities to the CBI. The BJP had pledged a CBI probe into the alleged CGPSC scam in its manifesto if voted to power.
There were complaints of nepotism and fraud in the list, citing a number of selected candidates who were close relatives of bureaucrats, politicians, and businessmen and had secured superior ranks and better posts.
The CGPSC-2021 exams recruitment list had candidates selected for 170 posts in twelve departments including the state administrative and police services.
The BJP while in opposition has made the alleged corruption in CGPSC as a major issue and former chief minister Raman Singh had written to the PM Narendra Modi seeking a CBI probe into the alleged fraud.
A petition was also filed by a former BJP MLA Nanki Kanwar, in the high court in September this year, following which the division bench expressed “surprise” over the relatives and children of the senior officials besides the politicians, having secured high rank in the declared merit list of the Commission.
The Congress government in its submission had then assured the court that the matter would be investigated.
In another remarkable decision, on paddy procurement, the Sai cabinet approved the procured limit to be revised and fixed at 21 quintals per acre for the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season 2023-24.
The BJP had promised it under the ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ under ‘Krishi Unnati Scheme’ in the party’s ‘sankalp patra’.
In the previous Kharif marketing season, the state government procured paddy at 15 quintals per acre. The exercise on procurement of paddy at MSP has begun from November 1 and will continue till 31 January 2024. The state government had raised the procurement target to 125 lakh metric tons (LMT), the highest ever.
The cabinet also took a decision to provide free ration to all below-poverty-line families covered by Antyodaya Anna Yojana. It also decided to issue priority ration cards for such families under the National Food Security Act 2013 for the next five years from January 2024 onward. As many as 67,92,153 ration cardholder poor families are expected to benefit from it.