PANJIM: Former civil supplies minister Govind Gaude has claimed that ‘bureaucratic negligence’ led to the rotting of 241 tonnes of tur dal stored in various godowns.
Gaude said when the issue came to his notice in 2021, that 241 tonnes of tur dal were not lifted by the Fair Price Shop owners; directions were issued to the bureaucrats to take care of the excess food grains kept in godowns.
“I will not term it as a scam, but it is certainly negligence on part of the bureaucracy due to which the tur dal was left to rot,” he said.
The State government had last week suspended then civil supplies director Siddhivinayak Naik, holding him responsible for leaving the food grains to rot in godowns.
Gaude said the Civil Supplies Department had procured 408 tonnes of tur dal during the Covid-19 pandemic, fearing a shortage in the market.
“We did not want Goa to face scarcity of food grains due to which such procurement was done,” he said.
He also justified that Goa has a sizeable population that prefers to eat dal on certain days.
The minister explained that the fair price shop (FPS) owners took only a limited quantity of dal and the rest of the stock was left in the godowns.
“When tur dal continued to remain in the godowns for three months, I had told officials to give it to FPS owners on a credit basis or sell it in the open market or dispose of it through a contractor. But, the officials did not do so and the stock rotted in the godowns,” he said.
The issue of damaged tur dal came to light a fortnight back after the Civil Supplies Department invited tender to dispose of the commodity.