A joint team of Nagaland civil society group ACAUT and Concerned Citizens of Nagaland (CCN) unearthed a massive public distribution system (PDS) rice scam at Dimapur on Friday.
A report in the Nagaland Post stated that when the team informed the village council of the area about the findings, a joint action committee (JAC) consisting of 10 colonies/village councils sealed the two godowns – RZ Lotha Godown at Kevijau Colony and M/S Lotha Trading Company at Lhomiti colony in Dimapur. The committee also demanded thorough investigation to bring the matter to a logical conclusion.
According to ACAUT, the godowns belonged to Tinku and Nirmal Jain, from where PDS items were allegedly sold off to various mills and in the open market. The group said that the scam could be in crores.
In a joint statement, the members of the committee alleged that the two godowns were siphoning off PDS rice after repacking in synthetic bags and sold them in open market and mills. They filed an FIR at Sub-urban police station against Tinku and Nirmal Jain and department of food & civil supplies for allowing both the firms to operate godowns in private establishments other than the designated FCI godowns.
In the godowns, ACAUT said rice was being packed and kept ready in thousands of white synthetic bags for disposal. The team said that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) manager has informed that “FCI never supplies rice in synthetic bags but in jute bags”.
Photo Courtesy: Nagaland Post
