PATNA: Opposition members created ruckus in the Assembly on Thursday over an alleged scam in paddy procurement drive in the state between 2011 and 2014, forcing Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary to adjourn the House till noon.
After the government's reply given by state food and consumer protection minister Madan Sahni failed to convince them, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House. This forced the Speaker to adjourn the House for 25 minutes. Sahni was replying to the short notice questions of RJD members Ramanuj Prasad and Atri Muni alias Shakti Singh Yadav, as well as supplementary questions of senior Congress member Sadanand Singh and two other RJD members Alok Mehta and Bhola Yadav.
Sahni the government had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to conduct investigations into the scale and extent of the irregularities, besides setting up special courts at Patna, Gaya, Chhapra and Purnia to hear the cases in this connection.
"Initial inquiries led to initiation of departmental proceedings against 280 persons. FIRs have been lodged against 218 persons and notices for auction of property served on 265 others," the minister told the House, adding those booked for irregularities have been asked to appear before the four special courts set up for the purpose.
Sahni said in 2002 cases under investigation, rice millers owed Rs 1,573.44 crore to the government and Rs 349.90 crore has so far been recovered from them.
The minister said there was another defalcation involving 409 persons in which fake delivery of paddy and rice had been made using fake receipts of transportation. They owed Rs 114.49 crore to the government and Rs 16.57 crore has already been recovered from them.
Sahni said the paddy procurement scam was worth around Rs 2,000 crore, which the opposition members were not ready to digest.
Shakti Singh Yadav maintained that the paddy procurement scam was worth around Rs 4,000 crore. Mehta, on the other hand, said the government was trying to shield the officials of the department concerned.
Bhola Yadav said the investigation into numbers of vehicles showed that scooters had been used to transport lakhs of tonnes of paddy to rice mills. He taunted deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, saying that he, in his booklet on fodder scam allegedly involving Lalu Prasad, had said that scooters had been used to transport fodder.
"The paddy procurement scam occurred under the first NDA government. Why don't you bring out booklet on it, mentioning scooters?" Yadav asked. Modi, in reply, said that he had brought booklet as opposition leader, and, therefore, the RJD should also bring out its own booklet on paddy procurement scam, if it has information.
After the government's reply given by state food and consumer protection minister Madan Sahni failed to convince them, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House. This forced the Speaker to adjourn the House for 25 minutes. Sahni was replying to the short notice questions of RJD members Ramanuj Prasad and Atri Muni alias Shakti Singh Yadav, as well as supplementary questions of senior Congress member Sadanand Singh and two other RJD members Alok Mehta and Bhola Yadav.
Sahni the government had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to conduct investigations into the scale and extent of the irregularities, besides setting up special courts at Patna, Gaya, Chhapra and Purnia to hear the cases in this connection.
"Initial inquiries led to initiation of departmental proceedings against 280 persons. FIRs have been lodged against 218 persons and notices for auction of property served on 265 others," the minister told the House, adding those booked for irregularities have been asked to appear before the four special courts set up for the purpose.
Sahni said in 2002 cases under investigation, rice millers owed Rs 1,573.44 crore to the government and Rs 349.90 crore has so far been recovered from them.
The minister said there was another defalcation involving 409 persons in which fake delivery of paddy and rice had been made using fake receipts of transportation. They owed Rs 114.49 crore to the government and Rs 16.57 crore has already been recovered from them.
Sahni said the paddy procurement scam was worth around Rs 2,000 crore, which the opposition members were not ready to digest.
Shakti Singh Yadav maintained that the paddy procurement scam was worth around Rs 4,000 crore. Mehta, on the other hand, said the government was trying to shield the officials of the department concerned.
Bhola Yadav said the investigation into numbers of vehicles showed that scooters had been used to transport lakhs of tonnes of paddy to rice mills. He taunted deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, saying that he, in his booklet on fodder scam allegedly involving Lalu Prasad, had said that scooters had been used to transport fodder.
"The paddy procurement scam occurred under the first NDA government. Why don't you bring out booklet on it, mentioning scooters?" Yadav asked. Modi, in reply, said that he had brought booklet as opposition leader, and, therefore, the RJD should also bring out its own booklet on paddy procurement scam, if it has information.
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