Whistle blower and senior IAS officer of Haryana, Ashok Khemka has recommended a CBI probe into an alleged seed scam claiming “three to five crore are estimated to be misappropriated by middlemen in this scam”.
Khemka, who is presently the managing director of Haryana Seed Development Corporation, has written to the premier investigating agency through Central Government.
The officer had also written a similar letter to the State financial commissioner (agriculture), Roshan lal earlier.
In his letter, he said that the Agriculture department has mandated the use of Raxil 2 per cent DS (Tebuconazole 2 per cent DS) as fungicide for treatment of wheat seeds for loose smut, flag smut and Karnal bunt diseases as pre condition to their certification since the Rabi 2010-11 crop year.
The State is estimated to have reimbursed `60 crore out of public money in the last three years towards the cost of RAXIl 2 per cent DS used by certified wheat producers in the State.
While raising questions, Khemka added, “With utmost humility, it is submitted that the decision of the department to provide 100 per cent subsidy for purchase of a specific branded fungicide (RAXIl 2 per cent DS) of a multinational company (M/s Bayer Crop Science) may be grossly inappropriate because, Raxil 2 per cent DS (Tebuconazole 2 per cent DS) is not registered under the insecticides Act, 1968 by the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) as a fungicide for treatment of Karnal bunt disease."
He said that even after its use in 15 lakh hectares of wheat crop in the State for three consecutive years, the CCS Haryana Agriculture University or M/s Bayer Crop Science did not obtain its registration for the treatment of Karnal bunt disease of wheat seeds on the basis of field results.
"The use of public money for the purchase of RAXIl 2 per cent DS for treatment of Karnal bunt disease of wheat seeds is an offence under section 29 of the insecticides Act, 1968. While recommending a specific brand Raxil 2 percent DS for treatment of wheat seeds, the CCS Haryana Agriculture did not submit a report about the relative efficacy of other fungicides for treatment of wheat seeds registered with the CIBRC,” he said in his plea.
Khemka said that the then director of Agriculture who was also managing director of this corporation purchased a total of one lakh quintal of wheat seeds in November 2010 from private parties through National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India (NCCF) (90,000 qtls.) and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India (NAFED) (10,000 qtls.) at a very high rate of `2,050 per quintal, when the retail rates of the specific seed varieties purchased ruled between `1,600 and `1700 per quintal.
"The seeds purchased were sold to the farmers at `1650 after adjusting government Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) subsidy of `500 per quintal. Three to five crores are estimated to be misappropriated by middlemen in this scam”, added Khemka.