FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government on Friday ordered an inquiry by the Vigilance Department to fix responsibility for the 241 metric tonnes of toor dal damaged and lying in the godowns of the Civil Supplies Department since 2020.
Secretary (Civil Supplies) Sanjit Rodrigues said that an inquiry by Vigilance Department has been ordered into the matter and to fix responsibility of 241 MT damaged toor dal.
He said that the Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has found certain lapses and has recommended an inquiry by the Vigilance Department to fix responsibility.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the Goa government will initiate an inquiry into the matter related to the rotting of toor dal in godowns of the Civil Supplies Department and those responsible will be punished.
“We have ordered an inquiry and those found responsible for it will be punished,” Sawant said.
According to Director of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Gopal Parsekar, the government had procured 400 metric tonnes of toor dal from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) in April 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown period. It was to be distributed for fair price shops and in the containment zones, he said.
“The 400 metric tonnes toor dal was procured at the cost Rs 3.32 crore. Of these, 158 metric tonnes of toor dal were distributed to the fair price shops, who later refused to lift the balance quota due to poor response from the ration card holders. Hence 241 metric tonnes of toor dal had now rotten and was unfit for human consumption,” he said adding that the government decided to dispose of it.
Parsekar said that the department has invited bids for the second time to dispose of the toor dal after it received no bids last year.
“We have estimated the cost of the damaged toor dal between Rs 1.50 to Rs 1.75 crore.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has demanded that the inquiry should not be an eyewash and that those responsible should be punished immediately.
