Food scam: Centre puts blame on UP govt

Lucknow, Dec 7 (IBNS) Successive Uttar Pradesh governments over the past decade stands to be vindicated from their roles in the multi-crore food scam as the Centre on Tuesday blamed the state government for the smuggling of food grains meant for BPL families in the state.

In a massive scam, amounting to Rs 2 lakh crore, food grains for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families was smuggled out of Uttar Pradesh, with the smuggled grains even reaching neighouring nations such as Bangladesh and Nepal.

Union Food and Civil Supplies minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday blamed the state government for the scam.

“Our job is to procure food and send to state. It is then up to the state to ensure that it reaches the people,” he said.

“It is now up to the court to decide what action has to be taken in this case. I have heard that the UP government has said it will take action, which is a positive step,” Pawar added.

Meanwhile, former UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayum Singh Yadav, seeking to wash his hands off the scam, said, “It was my government that instituted the CBI probe into the food scam. My government had given specific instructions to the highest authorities to carry out a probe. My government is clean in this regard.”

He blamed incumbent chief minister Mayawati for the scam and said she had failed to keep track of the investigations.

However, it may not be so easy for Mulayum to defend himself as the SP supremo was the chief minister when the scam happened.

Mayawati is also under pressure to announce a full-scale probe into the alleged scam.

Meanwhile, the Opposition parties have demanded a thorough probe into the food scam.

Bharatiya Janata Partty (BJP) general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad said Mayawati must order a probe into the scam and stated publicly that any person found guilty, including those of her government, would be punished.

“We are dealing with the poorest of the poor and the very question of their livelihood. This is something very fundamental for which we do politics. Therefore I would have really appreciated if Mayawati had said that if there was something wrong in her previous regime I myself will order an inquiry and let the guilty be punished,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said it was not enough for the UP government to merely follow the court’s orders now and questioned the political establishment why it was refraining from ordering a full inquiry.

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