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‘Shivraj Govt. patronising the corrupt’

BHOPAL: Bharatiya Jan Shakti party general secretary Prahlad Singh Patel, now on a week-long protest fast here to expose “irregularities and scams” in various State Government departments, said on Thursday that all development in Madhya Pradesh was aimed at benefiting the corrupt.

Addressing media persons, the former Union Minister said that instead of prosecuting the corrupt, the BJP-led State Government was patronising them.

He described the State Government as anti-farmer and said it had failed to come out with a policy for the farm sector.

While orange production in the State had been hit due to alleged attempts to siphon off Central subsidy, banana, amla and lemon production has been hit by natural calamities, said Mr. Patel, adding that cotton growers have suffered immense damage due to black marketing and supply of sub-standard seeds, especially in Khargone district.

The soybean crops have also been hit badly in Sagar, Ujjain, Bhopal and Jabalpur regions, he said, adding that following the Centre’s decision to give State governments the initiative to directly export fertilizers, the situation was dismal on the fertilizer availability front. The kharif crop has been damaged and now there is shortage of fertilizers as well as electricity for irrigation pumps for the rabi crops, he added.

Focusing on the working of the State Water Resources Department, Mr. Patel alleged that transfers and postings in the department were rooted in corruption. He released a list of Water Resources Department executive engineers who, he charged, had been given additional charge and were also officiating as superintending engineers and even as chief engineers.

Mr. Patel alleged that there had been “huge pay-offs” in these transfers and postings and even said State Water Resources Minister Anup Mishra was directly involved in perpetuating a system that breeds corruption.

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‘Shivraj Govt. patronising the corrupt’

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