Jalandhar: An anonymous advertisement was today published in leading newspapers here, condemning the allegation that the Punjab government had siphoned off over Rs 12,000 crore meant for wheat procurement.
“The allegation of disappearance of foodgrains in Punjab godowns is to defame Punjab. Beware of the conspiracy,” the advertisement said.
The advertisement said that it was an attempt by political parties to mislead people for political gains.
It said the allegation by opposition regarding discrepancies in accounts of foodgrain stocks is baseless.
The SAD-BJP government in the state keeps a record of all the procurement agencies and all stocks procured over the years have been duly accounted for and handed over to Food Corporation of India (FCI), the advertisement said.
“From 2003-04 to 2016-17, a total of 1140 lakh tonnes of wheat have been bought by various agencies in Punjab. In this data, approximately 85 lakh tonnes of wheat purchased is included in the current budget,” it said.
According to the data, in financial years 2003-04 to 2016-17, 1033 lakh tonnes of wheat was sent to FCI, while 108.13 lakh tonnes of the foodgrain is with various agencies in the state.
The foodgrain sent to the corporation and the stock with central agencies is much more than the total of 1140 lakh tonnes of wheat, as some get damaged and some weigh more due to moisture, it said.
Congress had earlier demanded a high court-monitored CBI inquiry into the reports of the alleged scam in procurement of foodgrains.
“The SAD-BJP government in Punjab has the dubious distinction of first emptying the coffers of the state, and now even foodgrains are disappearing. If the reports of disappearance of foodgrains is true, it calls for a court-monitored CBI inquiry,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari had said.
