Balasore: Alleging large-scale irregularities in the horticulture department, activists of the BJP’s Krushak Morcha staged a protest outside the collectorate here Saturday.
Shouting slogans against the government, the BJP workers said that the deputy director of horticulture had misused his official powers, and had decided a Rs 45-lakh tender in a day.
They pointed out that his power to invite tenders is confined to only works costing Rs 2 lakh, and that inviting a tender for around Rs 45 lakh and deciding it in a day has puts a question mark on his integrity. The BJP workers demanded a Vigilance probe into the Rs 45 lakh tender.
The BJP also targeted the government and the administration over the alleged mess in paddy procurement.
The party alleged that farmers in the district have huge stocks of paddy with them, but mandis were not being opened at many places.
“Farmers are forced to go to millers instead of mandis. The millers are cutting 10 to 12 kg of paddy per quintal after branding the paddy sub-standard. The Centre provides Rs 44 per sack to the state government, but crores allotted under this are being misappropriated by officials,” the BJP workers said.
BJP leader Bipin Bihari Das pointed out that this is happening due to the ‘unholy nexus between millers and staff at mandis’. He demanded stern action against the people involved.
Many farmers and BJP leaders Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Lekhashree Samantsinghar, Samir Patra, Ajay Mishra, Arun Bej, Shyama Prasad Behera, Gourang Das, Sipra Vajpayee, Ranjit Das and Badal Kar took part in the protest.
PNN