Karnataka - Bellary   

Irregularities found in Agriculture Dept. in Bellary

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELLARY, AUG. 8. An inquiry has confirmed the allegations made by the president of the Bellary Zilla Panchayat, G. Umesh, about the large-scale irregularities in the Department of Agriculture in the district.

Speaking to presspersons on Saturday, Mr. Umesh said that when he paid surprise visits to the Raitha Samparka Kendras and the Taluk Agricultural Offices recently, he found that there were a number of irregularities. He said that rules and norms had been flouted while procuring agricultural inputs, including chemical fertilisers, pesticides, agricultural implements, and kits. The agricultural inputs were either of sub-standard quality or purchased at a price higher than the prevailing market rates, he added.

The inquiry team found that the joint director of agriculture had flouted the rules and norms on several occasions. He had failed to table the action plan on agriculture and industries before the Standing Committee, he said.

Purchase

The team also found that the officer had placed orders for the purchase of pesticides, chemical fertilisers, and agricultural implements even before funds were allocated to the department, Mr. Umesh said. The team pointed out that the orders were placed without proper information from the taluk offices about the requirements. The officer had purchased materials at the cost of Rs. 8.91 lakhs from companies based in Andhra Pradesh even though the list of companies, recognised by the Government had enough stock, he added. The department had failed to organise field demonstrations and the officer had failed to provide the details of the amount released for the purpose.

Mr. Umesh said that the officials of the department had failed to produce details of agricultural inputs distributed to the taluk offices and to the beneficiaries.

Huge stock

The stock was supplied without assessing the demand or ascertaining the local needs. The inquiry team had found a huge stock of agricultural inputs in the Raitha Samparka Kendras, he said.

Mr. Umesh, who gave details of the report submitted by the inquiry team, said that he would forward the same to the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, the Minister for Agriculture, K. Srinivasa Gowda, and the Minister for Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, M.P. Prakash.

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