Agriculture Minister Chandrashekhar Sahu on Tuesday admitted in the State Assembly that a complaint had been received against the Managing Director and Superintending Engineer of Mandi Board, which are being probed.
In a written reply to BJP member Devjibhai Patel, the Minister said that during 2012-13, the Government had received a complaint regarding irregularities committed in purchase of construction material and use of funds from other heads.
He said that the complaint was received on February 14, 2013 in which it holds the Managing Director and the Superintending Engineer of the Mandi Board responsible for the irregularities.
‘The matter is being probed and action would be taken as per the merits of the case,’ Sahu said.
Replying to another question by Congress member Nandkumar Patel, the Minister said that there was a scheme of grants planned for construction of rural markets under the National Horticulture Mission. ‘However, there is no provision of setting up a processing unit under the scheme’. As a result, between January 2012 and February 22, 2013, no grants were advanced for construction of rural markets in any district of the State, he said.
The Minister said that there was a plan to establish rural markets only with the objective of marketing horticulture crops.
There had been no decision taken with the objective of establishing rural markets for collection, processing and sale of horticulture crops, Sahu said.