Raipur: Bhartiya Janta Party MLA Saurabh Singh addressed a press conference at BJP’s Rajbandha Maidan Office on Monday and accused that a huge scam of ₹229 crore occurred in Bhupesh Baghel government. He alleged the government procured dung of ₹246 crores, and sold products of ₹17 crore, and asked where the rest money vanished.
By levelling serious allegations of siphoning off public money, the MLA blasted Bhupesh Baghel’s flagship scheme Godhan Nyay Yojana and Narwa Garva Ghurva Badi scheme which has provision of procurement of cattle dung from sellers through Gauthan (cow shed).
Gobar scam compared to fodder scam
Earlier on Saurabh had raised the issue in question hour of monsoon session and by comparing it to the highly infamous Lalu’s government's fodder scam, he termed it a much bigger scam than that.
Meanwhile, in the House, during the proceedings, the Agriculture Minister informed that from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023 the government sanctioned construction of 10,336 Gauthans (cow shed) in the state out of which 10,240 Gauthans were completed.
While answering the question he said, up to 2023 the government has procured 1.23 lakh quintal of dung and made a payment of ₹24,6.39 crore to the beneficiaries. The self-help groups associated with the scheme sold out products made up of dung worth ₹17 crore.
Heated debate in Chhattisgarh Assembly
This led to heated discussion in the Chhattisgarh Assembly. As response to an unsatisfactory answer from the Agriculture Minister the opposition walked out from the House. MLA Saurabh Singh questioned what happened to the rest of the cow dung purchased at a cost of ₹229 crores.
After facing tough questions from the BJP MLA, Congress spokesperson Ajay Gangwani clarified the Congress government stand and reiterated that no scam occurred in procurement of dung. The payments were made online, from beneficiaries to buyers. The data is online, BJP is crying foul to defame ruling Baghel government, he alleged.
