BENGALURU: Agriculture Marketing Minister Shivananda Patil on Wednesday said the procurement of ball copra at minimum support price (MSP) at centres set up at Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committees (APMCs) by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) in the state will be suspended temporarily for a week because of irregularities in registering farmers.
“An inquiry has been ordered and nine NAFED officials, accused of committing irregularities, have been booked with criminal charges. The process of registering farmers will be revised and till then, the procurement will be stopped,” he told the Assembly.
Instead of computers purchased by the department, officials and outsourced staff brought their own and took them to the doorsteps of farmers and registered them, he said, admitting to lapses. It was done to help traders and not farmers, he added.
“It is most rampant in Hassan district, where 3,500 farmers from other districts were registered,” he said. The Centre allows procurement of only 25 per cent of total production, but the state has requested for it to be increased to 50 per cent.
MLAs, B Suresh Gowda from BJP and KM Shivalinge Gowda of Congress, said the suspension of procurement will affect genuine farmers who have registered as the quality of copra gets deteriorated. Tiptur MLA K Shadakshari said the registration and procurement should start simultaneously.
472 panchayat officials suspended for irregularities: Priyank
Bengaluru: Opposition BJP MLCs on Wednesday pointed to certain panchayat officials who had collected over Rs 600 crore in taxes and cesses not remitting it to the government over the last 8-9 years. RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge said wherever it has come to his notice, he has taken action. In the short time he has been a minister, he has suspended an unprecedented 472 officials, he said. On officials not attending office, he said their salaries are being accordingly decided.