SHILLONG, June 12: Opposition Congress and BJP have demanded an inquiry into the foodgrain scam involving Meghalaya which was unearthed by the Assam Police recently.
Congress MLA, Ampareen Lyngdoh described as shocking the seizure of one lakh bags of rice of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Shillong from a private godown in Assam’s Boko.
Terming the “diversion” as unacceptable, Lyngdoh said the state government should get the matter probed by a high-level committee.
“This is a huge violation of the rights of people of Meghalaya,” she said.
The BJP, which is a constituent of the state’s ruling coalition, demanded the immediate arrest of those involved.
“If this is true, the culprits should be booked immediately,” state BJP vice president, Bernard Marak said, adding, “The Centre and the state government should not allow such things to happen. The rice was meant for the poor.”
An official of the state’s Food and Civil Supplies department said the government has already lifted the quota of National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) and PMJAY for May and June.
He said there is no hue and cry so far in the state over the alleged diversion, adding if rice was indeed diverted, Meghalaya will demand its full quota in future.
“When FCI comes to us, we will deal with it,” he said.
The seizure was made by Boko police after locals had reported the suspicious movement of 13 trucks in the area. Following interrogation of the driver and the co-driver of one truck, the police raided the godown of Maruti Quality Products Pvt Ltd (MQPPL), a company tied up with Nestle multinational food company. The godown is owned by one Deepak Agarwal.
The police found that the FCI rice was repacked by MQPPL into East Sunrise brand, which is a part of Continental Milkose India Ltd and supplied to Assam Rifles. As per details provided by the Assam Police, the Shillong division of FCI had sent the rice under a wheat-based nutrition programme and NFSA through the Directorate of Social Welfare, Meghalaya.
