Abhishek Singhvi claimed that the CAG has found out how NAFED allowed big mill owners to “cheat” on pulses.
New Delhi:
The Congress on Thursday accused the Rs 4,600-crore food scam which, it said, has exposed the “real face” of the Narendra Modi government as the party demanded full disclosure as well as punishment for those involved. .
At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleged that the government changed auction rules in 2018 as part of a plan to provide pulses worth Rs 4,600 crore to the poor and armed forces only to “benefit a few big mill owners”. gave.
He claimed that the CAG has found out how NAFED allowed large mill owners to “deceive” tons of pulses for the poor, along with rewriting the traditional auction rules.
“Here is a government that is cheating with food products and allowing crooks to exploit something as pulses. We have to thank Covid as this scam cannot be exposed so easily.
“With Covid, the idea of distributing pulses for free or at low cost was thought and it exposed the scam,” Mr Singhvi alleged.
The Congress leader claimed that it was a “big scam”.
“I don’t think the facts are before us. I don’t think it’s possibly even part of the iceberg. We call on the government to make a full disclosure immediately,” he said.
Mr. Singhvi said, “We demand a comprehensive report on how this was allowed and punished at the highest level. We condemn it and call upon the public to condemn it. Above all, it is this reflects the true nature of the government,” Mr Singhvi said.
He claimed that when the UPA government came out with the Food Security Act, the BJP opposed it and now “this food scam is happening in his government”.
Mr Singhvi said that this “scam” of pulses and seeds is “kind, emotionless and an insensitive act”.
“It highlights the principled difference between 10 years of far-reaching social welfare schemes including the Food Security Bill and the BJP’s idea of a food scam.” He claimed that the government had in 2018 changed the conditions for grinding chana for making pulses and distributing it to the poor, which was opposed by Nafed.
“Now, a scam of Rs 4,600 crore has been done and it has been brought to light by a constitutional authority,” the Congress leader alleged.
“Ironically, on October 11 last year, Nafed had opposed the change in rules in writing and demanded its withdrawal,” he said.