Rediff Logo Business Find/Feedback/Site Index
HOME | BUSINESS | REPORT
September 22, 1999

COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES
SEARCH REDIFF


NAFED top brass held guilty for last year's onion scam

Bad onions, good onions: Does NAFED know its onions? The real pungent story of last year's onion crisis in Delhi is out: the top brass of NAFED, consisting of politicians and bureaucrats, squandered and pocketed Rs 12.5 million during the course of the agency's emergency onion handling operations.

An internal vigilance inquiry has found that NAFED top brass manipulated the purchase prices of onions to pocket money, sold good onions clandestinely in the market and sent rotting stocks to the government's public distribution system.

Email this report to a friend The onion crisis had led to the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Delhi state government in the assembly elections. The culprits behind the fraudulent operations are suspected to be politicians and top bureaucrats associated with NAFED.

As the government appointed principal canalising agency for farm produces, NAFED was asked by the Delhi government to import as well as internally procure onions to tide over the shortage of onions last year.

The probe has also called for handing over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation for nabbing those involved in the scandal.

However, instead of moving against the officials indicted in the inquiry report, NAFED management has ordered sending back the vigilance officer to his parent cadre much before the conclusion of his deputation tenure.

NAFED was asked by the Delhi government to supply 5,760 tonnes of onions on commercial level and another 6,200 tonnes for public distribution system before December 1998.

Of this order, NAFED had purchased directly from private traders about Rs 100 million worth and the rest through NAFED depots in different onion growing areas.

The vigilance inquiry found that of the direct purchase from traders, Rs 4.6 million was squandered as the NAFEDd authorities allowed the traders to charge more than their originally quoted price.

Again, 210 tonnes of onion was paid for at the rate of Rs 30,000 per tonne when the actual market prices had come down to Rs 20,000 a tonne. In this manipulation, the top brass of NAFED is accused of pocketing Rs 2.1 million.

Subsequently, the accused have made more money in short weighment of onions supplied to the Delhi government. Of the 65 trucks of onions the government asked to offload at the wholesale market in Delhi, 35 were rejected as it contained rotten and substandard onions.

How these onions came into the stream is a mystery as stocks purchased by NAFED were all certified to be of good quality. The inquiry suspects that the good stocks were sold in the market and the trucks were reloaded with susbtandard ones. The loss on this account is estimated at Rs 4.6 million.

Another eight trucks of onions from NAFED's branches were also found to be substandard stocks and the loss on this count was Rs 1.3 million. Another Rs 2 million has been lost because of the short weighing at the time of deliveries to the Delhi government. The total defrauded amount thus works out to Rs 12.5 million.

The inquiry also noted that NAFED officials did not go to Dubai and Iran to negotiate onion import deals, as directed by minister of state for agriculture Som Pal. This delayed the import purchases and aggravated the onion shortage in the country.

UNI

ALSO SEE

Price crisis looms over the business of bulbs
Govt puts onions in essentials list 'to check pre-poll price-rise
Govt lifts ban on onion exports, sets ceiling of 25,000t pm
Export ban on onions will be lifted by Monday, Hegde assures Rane
Ban on onion exports lifted partially
Onions now bring tears to farmers' eyes
Ashok Mitra on the onion crisis being a precursor of a grand future
IT dept cracks the whip on onion, potato price-riggers
Onion crisis will persist till January, say traders
Valley mulls the chicken-and-onion price conundrum
Centre to allow onion imports from Myanmar under OGL
1998 -- A tearful year for onion traders
Nafed to airlift 2250t onions from West Asia
Search rediff.com for more stories
Business news

Tell us what you think of this report
HOME | NEWS | BUSINESS | SPORTS | MOVIES | CHAT | INFOTECH | TRAVEL | SINGLES
BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | GIFT SHOP | HOTEL RESERVATIONS | WORLD CUP 99
EDUCATION | PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | FEEDBACK