Minister returns Govt subsidy received over past five years
Union Minister of State of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Bhagirath Choudhary, has returned to their bank Government subsidies received over the last five years under a scheme of the National Horticulture Board (NHB), the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha, MoS for agriculture Ramnath Thakur said, “Financial assistance under the NHB schemes is provided in the form of credit-linked back-ended capital investment subsidy to eligible farmers and entrepreneurs for development of commercial horticulture, protected cultivation, post-harvest management and cold chain infrastructure.”
“Bhagirath Choudhary has communicated that he has refunded the subsidy to the bank concerned under the Scheme. The bank concerned has been directed to return the subsidy amount to NHB,” Thakur added. The minister also stated that the existing NHB Scheme Guidelines do not contain any specific provision regarding conflict of interest or recusal in respect of applications submitted by public functionaries or their family members.
Elaborating, Thakur said the schemes are open to all eligible applicants, including individuals, partnerships, companies, cooperatives and other eligible legal entities, subject to fulfillment of the prescribed eligibility conditions. Under the schemes, he said the project land should be owned by the applicant or held on lease for a minimum period of ten years, duly reflected in the revenue records.
Thakur was replying to a query by Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, who wanted to know whether any serving Union Minister, Member of Parliament, or their immediate family members have received subsidy under schemes of the NHB during the last five years.
The minister further provided details of serving Union Ministers, Members of Parliament and their immediate family members, who have received financial assistance under the Schemes of the NHB during the last five years.
As per the list, Lumba Ram (MP of Sirohi, Rajasthan) in 2025 and Bhagirath Choudhary (Union Minister of State for Agriculture and MP of Ajmer, Rajasthan) in 2026 got the financial assistance.
