HYDERABAD: Members of the Gorrelu Mekala Pempakamdarla Sangham (GMPS) on Sunday urged Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to prevent corrupt officials in the Animal Husbandry Department and middlemen from exploiting beneficiaries of the sheep scheme.
In a statement, GMPS State general secretary U Ravinder claimed that those who had paid through DDs for the scheme three years ago were being forced to pay the presently increased beneficiary amount per unit, which was gone up from Rs 31,250 to Rs 43,750.
He alleged that the beneficiaries were being taken to places in AP and Karnataka where there were no sheep and were being made to stay there for days till their money got exhausted, after which they were being threatened by middlemen to do as told.
Ravinder said that under the aegis of the Central Procurement Team (CPT) of the Animal Husbandry Department which is responsible for identifying the sheep to be procured and for authorising procurement, middlemen were exploiting the beneficiaries, by asking them to take 10-12 sheep.