SHILLONG, Nov 10: Months have rolled by since the alleged rice scam was unearthed but the probe is yet to begin as the state government and the one-man inquiry commission have not been able to reach a consensus on its terms and conditions.
It was learnt the stalemate was caused by certain demands put forth by Justice (retd) Mool Chand Garg of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, who will head the inquiry. It was learnt that the government is examining the demands.
A source from the Social Welfare Department said it is unclear what exactly the demands are. It is certain that the probe will not begin unless both parties reach a consensus, the source said.
Further, according to the source, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma is either yet to finalise the terms and conditions or he is yet to make them known. The government had issued the notification for the inquiry on July 29.
Earlier, Social Welfare Minister, Kyrmen Shylla had stated that the department is finalising the terms and conditions as requested by Justice Garg.
He had also clarified that the delay in the commencement of the probe was not from the government’s side as it gave a free hand to the retired judge.
The terms of reference for the panel is to inquire the matter of rice allotted to Milkose (India) Limited for the supplementary nutrition programme (SNP) and recovered from a private godown at Boko in Assam and seized by the Assam Police. The panel will also probe the quality of fortified SNP food items being supplied to children and pregnant and lactating women under the Integrated Child Development Service scheme and whether any testing is done and if it is as per the norms.
The Assam Police, it may be recalled, had unearthed the “scam” by seizing several thousand bags of rice. Each bag contained 50 kg of rice.
The CM had initially denied the allegations of a rice scam but ordered the probe in due course in the face of pressure from civil society organisations and some ruling parties.
