Stop passing the parcel
Question: If rice and wheat allotted at highly subsidised prices under the central government’s mid-day meal scheme is unauthorisedly sold in the open market at much higher prices, is it legal? Even an uneducated person would instantly say that it not only constitutes fraud, but probably blackmarketing as well. But the Goa Police are still trying to find out, by writing letters to the Education Department, which in turn is playing as dumb as the cops.
In her reply to a letter from the police asking whether rice and wheat allotted on a monthly basis to self-help groups under the midday meal scheme can be sold in the market, Education Director Celsa Pinto has only said that as per central guidelines, the Education Department supplies wheat and rice under the mid-day meal scheme to self help groups. She has enclosed a list of 83 such groups in Goa. Saying they are ‘not satisfied’ with this ‘vague’ reply, the police have shot off another letter to the Director.
How long are these two going to play this game of ‘passing the parcel’?
The police first wrote to the Education Department after they seized a diary from main accused Devendra Shinde, revealing that he used to ‘purchase’ wheat and rice each month from self-help groups in the mid-day mean scheme Bardez taluka, and subsequently re-sell it in the open market.
Police investigations have shown that the entire quota of rice and wheat for the self-help groups issued by the Mamlatdar under the mid-day meal scheme each month was being taken directly from the Civil Supplies godown by the accused and sold in the open market. Approximately 20 to 30 quintals of rice and wheat are allotted every month for each self-help group under the midday meal scheme. The group concerned must collect the quota from the government godown. Instead, they were directly selling it to accused Shinde at Rs11 per kg of rice and Rs10 per kg of wheat. This was revealed in the accused’s diary.
Under the mid-day meal scheme, students mostly get sheera, pulao or pao bhaji. Even though the children get no wheat products, every month the Civil Supplies Department releases quintals of wheat to each self-help group, as per central government quotas. This is a well-designed and highly organised fraud, where foodgrain subsidised by taxpayers’ money is being systematically diverted to the open market and illegally sold at huge profits.
It’s an open-and-shut case. Then why do the police need a letter from the Education Department, and why is the latter so reluctant to provide it? That’s because most of the so-called self-help groups in Goa are closely linked to the ruling party (whichever one it may be), and are run by close associates of ministers and MLAs, or their relatives.
It’s a political minefield that no one wants to cross. It’s the proverbial cat that no one wants to bell. But does that mean we should allow the police to let these thieves get away with their systematic loot of public money?
Beggar’s day
Shelton Messier, the beggar who was literally dumped by police at the Campal garbage dump in Panjim by police in June 2009, must be paid a compensation of Rs50,000 by the state government, the National Human Right’s Commission (NHRC) has ordered. The NHRC has said the money should be recovered from the guilty policemen’s salaries, and that the government should take ‘active steps’ to rehabilitate him. But what about the higher-ups who gave a ‘clean chit’ to their juniors in this matter?
