Bureaucracy Today blows the lid off unbridled grievous corruption and malpractices in the SFCI (State Farms Corporation of India) by its CMD and his coterie right under the nose of the Agriculture Ministry. What is more shocking is the sacrilegious way in which seeming connivance is thriving between officials of the Ministry and the SFCI. Anupam Sharma and Parimal Peeyush investigate:
“Jack of all trades and master of none” is how the Chairman and Managing Director of the State Farms Corporation of India, Brigadier SP Mehla, describes himself. What Bureaucracy Today found was that he was no jack but a King along with a group of ministers, for all trades and is an alleged master of all kinds of nefarious activities in the SFCI. BT found some shocking revelations about the grave nepotism and corruption in the corporation run by tax payers’ money. The latest vigilance report charges the CMD and some senior SFCI officials with running a syndicate of favouritism.
The Vigilance report dated 09-03-2010 and other documents, copies of which are in the possession of Bureaucracy Today, mention the gross misuse of power and authority by the CMD in appointing personnel, corruption in purchases, misuse of Corporation funds, huge expenses on a foreign trip, claim of entertainment bills without proof, frequent changes of mobile handsets and numbers, misuse of Corporation vehicles and twisting recruitment rules and regulations at will. The SFCI was established in 1956 to enhance agricultural productivity and assist farmers in getting better bargains for their produce. But it has been rather allegedly busy filling the pockets of its own officials. The Corporation has been running into losses since its inception, with only some meagre profit recently only after the Ministry of Agriculture waived the long outstanding loan amount against the PSU. When Bureaucracy Today came across the report it decided to probe the matter, only to find that the rot runs deeper than what it seems.
As we walked into the shady office of the Corporation in New Delhi’s Nehru Place, we were welcomed by female members of the staff gossiping around and preparing themselves for lunch. We looked at our watch and since it was only 12:15 pm, we wondered about the work culture in the SFCI. The dilapidated office, with almost orange walls, thanks to paan masala spits, was relaying the story itself where everyone seemed interested in everything else, except work. As we trotted along, we were received by Vinod Kumar, Executive officer, (accused of having fictitious experience certificate as per the Vigilance Officer’s report), who introduced us to 60-year-old CMD Mehla, sitting pretty in his “clean” office.
Before we could question the CMD about alleged corruption and malpractices in his corporation, he started telling us how the PSU has made a profit during his tenure. Mehla told us that the SCFI earned Rs. 7.43 crore during the financial year 2009-2010 because of “his” efforts, and that the company had been majorly “restructured” by him. When confronted with the charges against him, the former Army officer denied everything and rather blamed the Vigilance Officer and whistle blower and union leader Raj Singh for having vested interests in the company and personal grudges against him.
Our interview was with the CMD of the SFCI but instead of talking to the BT team, Brig. Mehla summoned all the officials named in the report (confirming his coterie) to answer questions particularly the technical ones, as he was not able to answer the questions posed to him by the BT team. It seemed to us that we were interviewing a bunch of people rather than the CMD. The answers were given in a confirmed chorus and we understood that something was terribly wrong with the SFCI.
Can of Worms: A chronology of events
A glance at the continued reportage to senior Agriculture Ministry officials about nepotism and malpractices in the State Farms Corporation of India since 2007 and the consequent inaction by the Ministry reveals a well-maintained nexus between PSU officials and those of the Ministry. The matter was first brought to the notice of the Ministry of Agriculture by SFCI Employees Union General Secretary Raj Singh who blew the whistle about the notorious activities going on in the corporation in 2007. He knocked at every door he could to bring the prevalent corruption and favouritism in the SFCI to the Agriculture Minister’s notice. He wrote to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta, senior BJP leader L.K Advani, former Minister George Fernandez, and the Indian National Trade Union Congress on the same matter way back in 2007. Consequently, the Ministry under some pressure did a preliminary inquiry and prepared a report in February 2008. The report accepted irregularities in appointments after 2005 (the year Brigadier SP Mehla took over as CMD of the SFCI). The undue promotion of some officers and the misappropriation of Corporation funds in property buying by the CMD were clearly mentioned in the inquiry report which was then referred to the Seeds Division, Ministry of Agriculture, for further investigation.
Meanwhile, no action was taken against the CMD or the officers charged with nepotism and indulgences at the cost of the PSU. It was ensured that the matter be kept transferred from one department to another, alleges Raj Singh.
When the BT team enquired about investigations and reports, the SFCI officials said that they were given a “clean chit” in the whole matter by the Agriculture Ministry in 2009 and we were told to keep the information off the record.
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