PDS scam: Six arrested, more names expected to surface

Indicating the larger corruption in the public distribution system (PDS), the state government has detected diversion of a huge 2,000 tonne of subsidised grain, from its godown at Parbhani in Marathwada, for sale in the open market. The pilfered wheat and rice is collectively valued at around Rs5 crore and three officials, including the tehsildar have been suspended pending a departmental probe.

Senior officials from the state food and civil supplies department said while Maharashtra distributed Rs11,000 crore of subsidised grain annually to beneficiaries under the PDS, internal estimates suggested that around Rs 2,000 crore worth grain was diverted.

What makes the Parbhani case more interesting is how it was concealed from officials during successive inspections. Those allegedly involved in the racket stacked grain in a manner that made some area of the godown inaccessible and "uncountable." It took persistent attempts by an inspecting team to rearrange the grain, which is meant for the poor and needy beneficiaries under the PDS, and access the area to detect the shortage.

A senior state food and civil supplies department official said during an inspection at the Parbhani grain godown, they had "detected that the stock position was less than the book balance there."

The team found that 19,141.80 quintal of grain, including 13,841.62 quintal wheat and 5,300.18 quintal rice, worth Rs4,97,69,929 crore, were missing. The official, however, said this was an "economy cost" based on the price declared by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which supplies the grain, and its market value could be much higher.

While the book balance of the stocks was 52,170 quintal, the actual stocks were only 33,029 quintal. The official said after anomalies were detected mid-August by a team from the civil supplies commissionerate led by deputy director RA Ambhure and assistant director Pradeep Kedar, the report was submitted to the district collector Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal.

Later, three officials — godown keeper Anil Amberao, tehsildar Santosh Ruikar and naib tehsildar C B Panchal — were suspended pending a departmental probe. Apart from the trio, the labour contractor has also been booked by the police, with six people being arrested so far.

Mahiwal said Amberao, who is among those arrested, had admitted that the diversion was taking place for around three years. "This seems to be a big chain… (consisting of) numerous people," he admitted, adding that more arrests, including those of shop keepers, were likely.

Niyati Thaker, superintendent of police, Parbhani, said that while the pilferage racket seemed to be localised, they could not rule out the possibility of senior officials being involved in it.

Mahesh Pathak, principal secretary, food and civil supplies, confirmed the developments. "Earlier, inspections were conducted by the district supply officer, additional district supply officer from the district and other areas.

However, the grain was stored in a manner that they could not inspect it… and they have made remarks accordingly. This time, our officials were persistent… and found a shortfall," said Pathak, adding it was however difficult to say if such rackets were operating in other godowns.

"The grain stacks were in an uncountable position, our officials had to convert them into a countable one. When we get grain bags from the FCI, they are not in a standardized form. We have to weigh them, convert it into sacks of 50 kg each and then stack them in godowns. This is called standardization. However, these grain bags were in an unstandardized form. We had to standardize them first," said an official.

"Maharashtra has around 484 government grain godowns and the extent of diversion is mind-boggling," admitted an official, adding that the department suffered from a massive manpower crunch.

In April, the state government suspended 16 officials for diverting into the open market 30,682.17 quintals of wheat, rice and sugar worth Rs 7.83 crore meant for PDS beneficiaries in tribal-dominated Surgana in Nashik district.

The total number of ration cards in Maharashtra, which has an 11.23 crore population according to the 2011 census, is around 2.48 crore, covering 7.016 crore targeted beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. The act covers up to 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized food grains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

While beneficiaries covered under the Antyodaya scheme get 35 kg grain per card, NFSA families get 5 kg allotment of subsidized rice and wheat per person. The state also grants benefits to farmers in 14 agrarian distress affected districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada.