Maharashtra curate and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) person Dhananjay Munde. (Source: FB)
Social activistic Anjali Damania has accused NCP person Dhananjay Munde of being progressive successful a scam worthy Rs 161.68 crore during his tenure arsenic agriculture curate successful the erstwhile Mahayuti authorities and called for his resignation.
Currently serving arsenic the Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies minister, Munde denied the allegations and threatened to record a defamation suit against Damania. His sanction has already been nether scrutiny pursuing the apprehension of his adjacent aide, Walmik Karad, successful transportation with the execution of sarpanch of Massajog colony successful Beed territory Santosh Deshmukh.
Damania said the allegations stem from violations of a authorities solution (GR) dated September 12, 2018, which mandated that each scheme-related funds nether the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) strategy beryllium transferred straight to farmers’ slope accounts, excluding circumstantial entities specified arsenic Mahabeej, KVK, and MAIDC. She alleges this regularisation was disregarded.
According to Damania, the authorities solution included 62 components nether DBT, with immoderate changes to the existing components requiring support from a committee comprising the Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary, and Planning Secretary.
Damania besides pointed to a caller GR issued connected March 12, 2024, conscionable earlier the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections came into effect. This solution appointed the agriculture commissioner arsenic the controlling serviceman for cultivation input purchases, a determination that erstwhile Agriculture Commissioner Pravin Gedam had raised concerns about. Damania claims that Munde overruled these concerns and sought support from past Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar.
The activistic further accused the agriculture section nether Munde of fiscal irregularities successful the procurement of 5 items—nano urea, nano DAP, artillery sprayers, metaldehyde pesticide, and fabric bags—at inflated prices, resulting successful a full nonaccomplishment of Rs 161.68 crore to the exchequer.
Munde, however, dismissed the allegations arsenic baseless. “None of the allegations leveled by her successful assorted cases implicit the years person been substantiated. Perhaps she is considering a instrumentality to politics, which is wherefore she is making specified allegations,” helium said.
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