PANAJI
Amid the Civil Supplies Department’s silence over action against officials involved in the wastage of tons of tur dal and sugar, the department disposed of the entire quantum at a meager amount. Ironically, the 10 tons of sugar, which the Goa government claimed were lying in godowns, have been sold to an agency that deals with scrap.
Kolhapur-based Desai Cutlery won the bid at the cost of Rs 2.60 lakh approx, and the dealer claimed these will be ‘recycled.’ “The sugar is not that bad to be sent to a distillery. The good quality sugar will be segregated from the partially destroyed ones for manufacturing jaggery and other edible products. The remaining will be recycled by the small factories in our area,” the dealer said.
While the discarded sugar has been sorted with no clue whether the department mixed the good quality along with it, the unwanted tur dal was also sold at Rs 18.43 lakh approx to another dealer outside Goa. The government that lost crores of rupees owing to the negligence of the officials has earned nearly Rs 21 lakh approx from the sale.
The wastage of tur dal and sugar attracted negative remarks from the opposition after which Chief Minister Pramod Sawant ordered a vigilance inquiry. Then Civil Supplies Director Siddhivinayak Naik was suspended despite criticism that he was made a scapegoat in the case. The matter came to light when the government released a media advertisement inviting bidders for procuring the discarded tur dal and sugar, which were actually meant for distribution to needy migrants during Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Civil Supplies Director Gopal Parsekar refused to comment on the issue when contacted by The Goan.
