JAMMU: Alleging large scale irregularities in the functioning of Horticulture Department, the JKNPP activists held a protest seeking punitive action against various officers of the department who had been indicted by the enquiry committee for having committed frauds and bunglings in the use of funds meant for various horticulture schemes. The party workers raised slogans against the Horticulture Department and its director for his shoddy role and for shielding the culprits. Rajesh Padgotra, Provincial President JKNPP, accused the Horticulture Department of plundering the subsidies meant for poor orchardists in connivance with certain politicians and fake beneficiaries.
He said that huge funds were provided to the Horticulture Department for providing incentives and subsidies to farmers, orchardists under various schemes but regretted the said funds were siphoned off in the process and did not reach the deserving people and intended beneficiaries. He said that several orchardists had complained regarding the omissions and commissions of the departmental functionaries in pursuance of which an enquiry committee was also constituted which gave its adverse findings against several officers.
Padgotra further said that all such officers were granted immunity by the department despite the fact that they have been indicted by the enquiry committee because of the involvement of certain politicians and higher ups also in the scams. He said that enquiries and RTI replies had proved that subsidies meant for the poor were bungled by several officers in collusion with higher authorities . He further castigated the withdrawal of subsidy by a BJP MLA who had not only withdrawn subsidy from Horticulture Deptt but also availed of various incentives proposed for poor and BPL families in the Agriculture sector. He expressed dismay that while BJP was trumpeting corruption free dispensation, its MLAs were not sparing even the subsidies meant for poor and indigent masses.
Seeking immediate action against the delinquents and other corrupt officers, Padgotra warned of stringent action in case the higher authorities failed to act.
He further accused the officers of shielding certain fake beneficiaries especially politicians and the MLA who have siphoned off huge subsidies meant for the poor and BPL families
Prominent among those who participated in the protest included N.P Singh, Purshotam Parihar, Shankar Chib, Khajoor Singh, Inder Pal, Ajeet Sharma, Arun Sharma, Sanju, Narinder Singh, Rajinder Singh and Rajesh Gondhi.