Congress alleges Rs 4,600 crore food scam under BJP government

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The Congress on Thursday alleged a Rs 4,600-crore food scam which, it said, has exposed the "real face" of the Narendra Modi government as the party demanded a full disclosure as well as punishment for those involved.

At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleged the government changed the rules of auction in 2018 under a scheme to provide pulses of Rs 4,600 crore to the poor and the armed forces only to "benefit a few big millers".

He claimed the CAG has found how by NAFED "allowed" big millers to "swindle" tonnes of pulses meant for the poor with the conventional auction rules rewritten.

"Here is a government which is cheating over food products and allowing crooks to exploit something as basic as pulses. We have to thank Covid as this scam might not be unearthed so easily.

"With Covid, there was thought of distributing pulses for free or low cost and it unearthed this scam," Singhvi alleged.

The Congress leader claimed it was a "huge scam".

"I don't think the facts are out before us. I don't think that this is possibly even a part of the iceberg. We call upon the government to make a full disclosure immediately," he said.

"We demand a comprehensive report on how this was allowed and punishment at the highest levels. We condemn this and call upon the public to condemn it.

Above all, this shows the true nature of this government," Singhvi said.

He claimed that when the UPA government brought the Food Security Act, the BJP opposed it and now "this food scam is happening under their government".
Singhvi said this "scam" of pulses and seeds is "uncompassionate, unfeeling and an unsympathetic act".

"It highlights the principled difference between 10 years of far-reaching social welfare schemes, including Food Security Bill, and the BJP's idea of food scam."
He claimed the government had in 2018 changed the conditions of milling gram to make pulses and distributing them to the poor which were opposed by NAFED.

"Now, a scam of Rs 4,600 crore has been committed and it has been brought to light by a constitutional authority," the Congress leader alleged.

He said, "The irony is that NAFED had on October 11 last year, in writing, opposed the change in rules and sought it be revoked."