- विज्ञापन -
Jaipur: Rajasthan Minister Madan Dilawar has accused the former Ashok Gehlot-led government of being involved in a massive Rs 1,705 crore scam, focusing on the mid-day meal schemes and inflated student numbers at madrasas.
In a statement, Dilawar claimed, “One scam involves the mid-day meals, which was a fraud amounting to crores of rupees.” He explained that the mid-day meal scheme, which was supposed to provide meals to students during the COVID-19 pandemic, was mishandled and resulted in fraud. “During the pandemic, students did not receive the meals as promised, despite assurances that they would be provided with mid-day meals,” he said.
Dilawar further elaborated that contracts for providing meals were issued, but the process was marred by irregularities. The contract was initially offered to Confed, a government agency, but was later sub-let to multiple parties, which led to inflated procurement costs. He cited an example where dal, which was provided by NAFED at Rs 50 per kilogram, was purchased at a much higher price. “We found over 17 lakh packets in Jaisalmer, but the documents show that students received the food, which is false,” he claimed.
The Minister added that the food agency confirmed that less than 60 percent of the materials were actually received. “This is a Rs 1,705 crore scam. According to the food agency, not even 60 percent of the material was taken from them,” Dilawar said.
He also mentioned that a previous investigation into the matter had been cancelled, but a new committee would be formed to investigate the case thoroughly.
Dilawar then shifted focus to another alleged scam involving madrasas. He claimed that the number of students in madrasas had been artificially inflated from 130,000 to 208,000 on paper, a fraud that also took place during the Congress regime.
He vowed to investigate these allegations in depth, stating, “We will dig into the matter and find the culprits, no matter how powerful they are. We hope the investigation committee will submit the report soon.”
