PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday assured that the government will inquire into the issue of tonnes of tur dal worth Rs 2.2 crore rotting in the godown of Civil Supplies.
The civil supplies department came under criticism after the issue cropped up when an auction notice was published for disposal of Rs 241 metric tonnes of 'damaged' tur dal which was initially procured by the government at Rs 2.2 crore.
"The Goa government will initiate an inquiry into the matter related to rotting of tur dal in the Civil Supplies Department godowns and those responsible will be punished," said Sawant when media persons asked him about the matter.
According to the information given by the Director of Civil Supplies, Gopal Parsekar, a total of 400 metric tonnes of toor dal was procured in 2020 from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NFED) during the Covid lockdown at Rs 83 per kg (total cost Rs 3.32 crore). Of this, 159 metric tonnes were sold at fair price shops and the remaining 241 kg was spoilt and turned inconsumable, said Parsekar.
The government had issued a tender last year to dispose of the dal, but there were no takers, he added.
