Delhi's Rice Scam: AAP Leader Alleges ₹22,000 Crore Diversion
Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged a ₹22,000 crore scam involving the diversion of subsidized rice meant for Delhi's poor.
- The alleged scam involves the Food Corporation of India, Delhi's food department, an Assam-based corporation, and a Haryana-based private firm.
- Bharadwaj claims the rice was diverted and illegally sold, with money being made in the process.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj has accused the Delhi government of involvement in a massive ₹22,000 crore scam. He alleges that subsidized rice, intended for the capital's poor, was diverted and illegally sold to a private firm in Haryana. Bharadwaj detailed a chain of events involving four actors: the Food Corporation of India as the supplier, Delhi's food and civil supplies department as the requester, an Assam-based corporation as the initial receiver, and finally, a Haryana-based firm as the buyer.
A new scam of the Delhi government has come to light, and this scam is so big that it will blow your mind, a rice scam.
Bharadwaj explained that subsidized rice is released by the Food Corporation of India at a low cost to state governments specifically for distribution to beneficiaries without ration cards, such as migrant laborers and daily-wage earners. He claimed that the Delhi government's food department, headed by BJP minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, formally requested 31,000 metric tons of rice per week from the Food Corporation of India. This supply reportedly began and continued for several weeks.
A corporation based in Assam and the Delhi government sent a formal request to FCI to get heavily subsidised rice from FCI (Food Corporation of India). A huge quantity of 31,000 metric tons of rice per week was demanded to be distributed among the poor of Delhi.
The AAP leader pointed fingers at the Delhi government department, a corporation based in Assam, and the private firm in Haryana, all operating in states ruled by the BJP. He asserted that money was made illegally through this diversion. As of Sunday afternoon, neither Sirsa nor a spokesperson for the Delhi government had responded to the allegations.
For them, the Food Corporation of India gives rice to the state government at a very cheap, subsidised rate, so that the state government distributes it further.
Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.