Congress demands probe into paddy payment ‘scam’

Congress targeted AAP government over alleged Rs 4,000-crore paddy payment scam, but AAP denied.

CHANDIGARH: Congress legislators tried to corner the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Friday during

the Zero Hour on the concluding day of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha session by seeking a high-level Assembly panel to probe accusations of a Rs 4,000-crore scam involving delayed payments for paddy purchases from farmers last year. However, AAP Cabinet Minister countered the claims, settling the allegations.
Congress’s veteran leader, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, charged that the full Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 2,300 per quintal was not paid to farmers.
Instead, payments ranged between Rs 1,700 and Rs 2,100 per quintal, with the remaining amount allegedly “misused during the recent Delhi elections.”

Brushing aside the allegations, New and Renewable Energy Minister Aman Arora challenged the opposition to produce even a single written complaint from a farmer, as payments were made directly into the farmers’ bank accounts. He blamed the opposition for misleading the public and gaining political mileage from unsubstantiated claims.
Opposition Leader Partap Singh Bajwa, however, called for an in-house Vidhan Sabha committee investigation instead of just a departmental inquiry, arguing that the matter was too serious to be dismissed.