The BRS leader accused the Congress government of a Rs 1,000 crore paddy lifting and rice procurement scam.
BRS working president K T Rama Rao today accused the Congress government of a Rs 1,000 crore paddy lifting and rice procurement scam, and demanded that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy clear themselves of the allegations.
He challenged them to initiate a judicial inquiry with a sitting judge into the scam.
Addressing media persons at the party's head office Telangana Bhavan, KTR accused the Congress of looting the government exchequer, and of following a "galli me looto, Delhi me baanto" policy. He also presented some documents supporting his claims of the scam.
He explained that the civil supplies department, under the supervision of Uttam Kumar Reddy and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, awarded tenders to four companies to lift paddy from rice millers in the State. He accused the Chief Minister and the minister of establishing a committee, issuing guidelines and calling for global tenders for 35 lakh metric tons of paddy all on January 25 itself. He said that while the party showed no urgency in fulfilling its electoral promises, it swiftly awarded these tenders dubiously in one day with jet speed.
He said that the local rice millers were ready to purchase the paddy for Rs 2,100 per quintal, but the Congress government sold it at prices ranging from Rs 1,885 to Rs 2,007 per quintal to companies like Kendriya Bhandar, L G Industries, Hindustan Company and NACAF, who secured the tenders quoting lower rates.
KTR also accused these four companies of blackmailing local rice millers, demanding Rs 2,230 rupees per quintal, which was Rs 200 more than their tendered rates, leading to a Rs 800 crore scam.
He claimed that these companies had said that this extra amount would go to officials in the Chief Minister's office for election expenses and would be sent to Delhi.
He pointed out that according to the tender agreement, these companies had no right to demand money instead of paddy from the rice millers. Despite this blackmail by the companies, the Congress government remained silent. KTR also noted that these companies failed to lift the paddy within the stipulated 90-day period, which ended on May 23rd, and sought an extension from the government, which was under positive consideration. He accused the government of trying to extend the period to fleece more money from the millers instead of taking action against the companies for violating the tender conditions.
KTR demanded that the government release a white paper detailing how much paddy had been lifted, and address the allegations of money collection from millers instead of paddy. He also criticized the government for its silence on this multi-crore scam for over two weeks
KTR also faulted the government policy for tendering fine rice and raw paddy at the same price, and also criticized the government for purchasing fine rice at Rs 15 more per kilogram than the market price. He said that the BRS government under KCR had introduced fine rice for school and hostel students as a humane initiative, but the Congress government was exploiting this noble cause for corruption. Even today, new fine rice with 10% broken rice was priced at around Rs 42 per kilogram in the market, while the government was paying Rs 57 per kilogram from companies, he said.
He also highlighted that the same four companies involved in the dubious paddy lifting tenders were also awarded tenders for buying fine rice, raising public doubts. These companies quoted nearly the same rate in tenders, blatantly rigging the process, KTR said, and reminded the media that the erstwhile government used procured paddy for fine rice supply, securing better quality fine rice at just Rs 35 per kilogram.
He accused the government under Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy of engaging in a Rs 300 crore scam in fine rice procurement by procuring 2.20 lakh metric tons. He demanded immediate cancellation of the tender awarding letters for fine rice procurement from these "shady" companies.
KTR also highlighted that Kendriya Bhandar, which was blacklisted by the BRS government, was awarded a tender for paddy lifting and rice procurement. This blatant irregularity raised doubts about the government's intentions, KTR said. He demanded an immediate inquiry by a sitting judge into these allegations, and called for the government to present all details regarding the paddy lifting and fine rice procurement processes.
KTR also urged the BJP and its leaders to show their commitment by involving Central agencies and the FCI to investigate this thousand-crore scam. He reminded the media that the FCI always monitored paddy procurement and minimum support price transactions as per the Food Security Act. The Central government's silence also raised suspicions of collusion with the Congress government in this paddy scam, he claimed.
KTR warned that if the Congress and the BJP failed to clarify their roles in this Rs 1,000-crore paddy and fine rice scam, the BRS would seek judicial intervention. He also threatened to expose the scam to the public.