Opposition BJP leaders staged a walkout on the third day of winter session of state assembly over the issue of procurement of ‘jaggery’ under ‘Madhur Yojna’ for supply in tribal areas to counter anemia in the state.
Raising the issue through call attention motion, former chief minister Raman Singh, Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik, Ajay Chandrakar said no criteria for procurement of jiggery has been fixed and around 400 local producers are being ignored, which will cause loss of employment. The procurement is being done on higher price, they alleged.
Raman Singh said businessmen dealing with automobiles have participated in the tenders, and asked will he mix diesel in it and sell? He also asked as to how the listed traders participating in tender is in public domain and cited a statement of NAFED Managing Director of stating list has been provided by the state government.
Food and civil supplies minister Amarjeet Bhagat said the state government has ensured that procurement will be done through local manufacturers while the tendering process has been done through the NAFED, the same process adopted by the erstwhile BJP government for procurement of chick pea.
He said traders from Gujarat are also participating and took a jibe at BJP members saying “will you annoy Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi.” This prompted Leader of Opposition Kaushik to object making reference to Prime Minister in the House. Other opposition members also started raising objection, leading to din. They then staged a walk out saying they are not satisfied with the reply of minister.