The Delhi Congress on Thursday alleged that the Delhi government had spent ₹10 crore on publicity and ₹23 lakh on the distribution of Pusa bio-decomposer to 310 farmers and demanded a CBI probe into the alleged scam.
AICC spokesperson Pawan Khera said that according to information accessed through RTI, though over 1,200 farmers had registered for the bio-decomposer, only 310 farmers from 39 villages in Delhi were given the decomposer capsules, on the premise that four decomposer capsules are required per hectare, and accordingly, 3,200 capsules were required for 800 hectares of paddy cultivation in the villages of Delhi.
However, according to an RTI reply, 8,000 capsules were purchased, raising the question as to why the Delhi government had purchased around 4,800 capsules more than the required number, Mr. Khera said.
He added that instead of four capsules, 10 were used to decompose the paddy residue to mislead the farmers, and the report of the 15-member committee constituted by the Delhi government points to a major scam.
Mr. Khera said that when the Congress was in power in Delhi for 15 years, it never used the word “parali” burning but for the past seven years, the Arvind Kejriwal government has been attributing the main cause of air pollution in the Capital to “parali” burning, though the real reasons are traffic pollution, dust from demolition and construction sites.
He added that the AAP government, which is now trying to champion the cause of the farmers protesting on the Delhi borders, demanding the repeal of the three agricultural laws passed by the Central government, had blamed the farmers till a few months ago for the contribution of the worsening air quality in Delhi.
