 "Paddy field image via Shutterstock")
Haryana's main opposition INLD today alleged scam in paddy purchase in the state and pegged it at around Rs 24,500 crore.
The party has also said that it will move court to get the matter probed.
Senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala said that Haryana supplies paddy to other states being a leading producer and it was surprising how paddy from "outside" the state was making its way into the BJP-ruled state, which clearly points towards a "scam".
Chautala alleged that the millers were purchasing paddy from outside Haryana at cheaper rates and showing it in stocks as crop purchased from Haryana farmers.
Chautala said here today that his party has decided to file a PIL, saying entire "scam" should come to the fore.
"It is a big scam, which is pegged at around Rs 24,500 crore," the Leader of Opposition in Haryana said.
He also claimed that INLD workers in Ambala had caught three trucks late last night which were laden with paddy, but all of these had come from outside Haryana.
"All the trucks with the paddy bags had come from outside Haryana," he said.
"In all the three trucks, the paddy bags bore stamps of different states like Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
"We will file PIL and submit plea that it is a big scam in Haryana," Chautala told reporters here.
"We had deputed our party workers at Ambala border to check how many paddy trucks were coming from outside when they caught these trucks," he said.
Meanwhile, slamming the opposition parties for raking up a "fake-issue", Haryana's Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar said the opposition parties were making baseless statements on paddy procurement just to remain in the media headlines.
"Yeah opposition ka farzee mudda hein (opposition is raking up a fake issue)," Dhankar told reporters here today.
He said that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has given his reply with facts on each and every aspect of paddy procurement in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, whose brief session concluded yesterday.
"Even then, the leaders of Congress Party and INLD walked out of the House. The Chief Minister also presented the receipt of paddy sold by a farmer to an Ahrtiya (commission agent) on October 12, 2015.
"As per the receipt, the farmer was paid Rs 13,000 less with his consent on account of higher moisture content (for procured paddy crop) and other reasons," Dhankar said.
The Agriculture Minister said that moreover, the Chief Minister has given approval for physical verification of paddy stock.
"The Administrative Secretaries have been allotted 13 districts for supervising the physical verification of paddy stocks of State Procurement Agencies lying in the rice mills. The verification is to be completed in 20 days.
"Apart from this, inspection would be done of the millers who have not supplied 20 per cent of the rice till November 30 within the next 15 days," he said.
Responding to the allegations of opposition that paddy prices had shot up once the farmers had sold their produce for the current season, Dhankar said that the paddy prices depend on demand in international market.
He added that this was for the first time that government procured 1.72 lakh Metric Tonne (MT) and 'ahrtiyas' and millers purchased 4.28 lakh MT of PUSA 1509 variety of paddy at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 1,450.
"No farmer has made any complaint. No complaints pertaining to irregularities in procurement process have been received so far.
"Paddy is procured through rice mill owners on the behalf of government agencies every year, for which necessary quota is prescribed," the Minister added.
