Ujjain : The connivance of wheat procurement officers of the district and the owners of private warehousing is getting costly to the government and is siphoning the public money which could have been used for other purpose.
With the corruption prevailing inside the procurement agency the private warehouse owners are getting the advantage of it and are dribbling the government in pure daylight. In the latest incident the procurement agency officers are authorizing the private warehouses to store the crops instead of storing the crops in the nearby marked warehouses of government.
Sources revealed that the wheat crop of Tarana and Ghosla tehsil is being stored in government warehouses located in Ujjain, despite it is marked to be stored in warehouse of Palwa, which is nearer to both locations. This cunning act of officers, agents and contractor is proving loss for the government as the cost in transporting the crops to far locations get added into the government accounts.
The local administration had decided a two month window forwheat procurement in the district that started on March 6 and will end on May 6 and according to the lists of Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA), the three government storage facilities of the district, namely Ujjain, Narwar and Palwa needs to be filled with priority. Sources revealed that the officers in connivance with private warehouse owners and contractor refuse to accept the grains at local warehouses making excuses in name of labour or resources. Also on purpose there has been slow lifting of crop at these government warehouses to show off the trouble. While at the same time crops from villages of Ghattiya, Khedakhajuriya, Ghosla and Tarana is forced to be transported to private warehouses of Ujjain, which results in increased transportation costs, which is directly counted into government’s pocket.
Further sources at Ujjain Civil Corporation disclosed that all the warehouses of WDRA where crops have been stored, even though not at their full capacity, the government will have to pay full rent of four and half months to that warehouse. With this discrepancy the government running on public money will pay money to WDRA warehouses which are not filled to their capacity and to the private warehouse owners who are cashing mint by making the procurement agency officers merry. On the other hand manager at Ujjain Civil Supplies Corporation Saxena was not available for a comment despite repeated attempts.
