The Punjab government has launched an investigation into a Rs 150-crore scam involving the distribution of crop residue management machines to farmers during the previous dispensation led by Congress.
Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said in a statement on Wednesday that a total of 11,275 machines were not found with the beneficiaries during a physical verification and ordered an investigation.
He stated that the previous government implemented a central sector scheme to promote agriculture mechanization for in-situ crop residue management from 2018-19 to 2021-22.
According to the agriculture department's preliminary investigation, a sum of Rs 125-150 crore appears to have been misused.
According to the minister, between 2018-19 and 2021-22, a total of 90,422 machines for crop residue management were provided to beneficiary farmers, registered farmer groups, cooperative societies, farmer producers' organizations, and panchayats through this scheme.
The department of agriculture provided 83,986 machines, with the remaining provided by registered cooperative societies.
Following reports that many of these subsidized machines were not distributed to eligible farmers, Dhaliwal directed the agriculture department to conduct a physical verification.
During the physical verification, which ended on August 16, a total of 11,275 machines were discovered to be missing, he said.
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