PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara has said that scams are surfacing in the Agriculture department of the State with alarming regularity. He claimed large scale irregularities in the auction process of the Tarai Seed Development Corporation (TSDC) and said that favouritism occurred in the awarding of the contract for Krishi Mela in Dehradun.
Mahara said that last year a scam worth crores of rupees was reported in the Horticulture department in Ranikhet but no investigation was done by the authorities. He said that now in the name of airport expansion, a scam of crores has occurred in the auction process of the assets of TSDC.
Demanding immediate cancellation of the auction of TSDC, the PCC president said that Ganesh Joshi and scams have had a long association. Demanding the resignation of Joshi and chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, he said that TSDC is a major institution for farmers, which has given a new identity to the Terai region of Uttarakhand State by providing high quality seeds not only to Uttarakhand but also to the border areas of Uttar Pradesh.
He said that the corporation is in a situation of crisis due to the apathy of the government.
Mahara also demanded a high-level inquiry in the award of contract for the Krishi Mela which was to be organized at Mahindra Ground in Dehradun.
He said that as per the tender process issued by the State Agriculture department for fair, the allotment of the contract was to be done on June 11 but the contractor started work at the site on June 9 itself which clearly shows that the tender process was a mere eyewash and that the favourite contractor would have received the contract.
Demanding high level inquiries in the TSDC auction and Krishi Mela contract scams, Mahara said that both chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and minister Joshi should tender their resignations.
