UP minister Dinesh Pratap Singh writes to CM Yogi Adityanath, accuses mandi parishad officials of corruption

LUCKNOW: Minister of state (independent charge) for agri export, Dinesh Pratap Singh, has written to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, accusing mandi parishad officials of corruption.
The minister has levelled charges of corruption in collection of mandi fees, misappropriation of funds and collusion by senior officers in allowing corruption to thrive.
The minister said that he held a meeting with the representatives of mandi parishad and contractors in August, which had been videographed for evidence.
Citing a specific example of a mango packaging plant in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the minister said that the proposal was given administrative and financial clearance without due diligence.
“The foundation was dug very deep and the quality of construction work is extremely poor, a concern which has also been raised by officers. Several other construction projects have been pending for one year to five years after their completion dates. It is clear that the officials are not interested in solving the matter as they have made no efforts to justify the delay or take action against contractors,” the minister said.
He further pointed to a pending amount of Rs 213 crore which has not yet been collected for shop and godown allotment fee and rent. “When asked why such a huge amount was pending for so many years, no officer was able to give a satisfactory reply,” he said.
“Mandi samitis took payment through cheques to meet their targets, despite being directed not to follow this practice. Many of the cheques have bounced. The average dues pending for mandi samitis is Rs 5 crore to Rs 6 crore which would have earned huge interest had it been deposited in the bank. No efforts were made to recover this money by any officer. The matter must be taken up at your level,” Singh said.
He said that weigh bridges in several mandis were not functional and, in collusion with senior officers, alternate routes have been given to truck drivers. “The CCTV cameras put up in the mandis are either not functional or have been pointed in unnecessary directions, leading to irregularities in mandi fee charge collections, amounting to crores of rupees,” he said.
The most recent case of a minister levelling charges against officers in his department was that of Dinesh Khatik, minister of state for Jal Shakti, who had written to Union home minister Amit Shah, complaining that he was not being taken seriously by his officers since “he is a dalit”. Other departments where ministers have highlighted corruption include health, PWD and animal husbandry.