‘Coop society linked to minister used fake docus to get ₹24.81-crore grant’

MUMBAI: Cooperation minister Subhash Deshmukh was in the middle of controversy on Monday, as Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam alleged the cooperative society controlled by Deshmukh’s family forged documents to get ₹24.81 crore sanctioned under the Central government’s Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). Deshmukh has denied the charges, claiming the society did not spend the ₹5 crore, part of the total amount that was released.

Nirupam, in a press conference on Monday, said the Lokmangal Multistate Coop Society Limited (LMCSL), which was headed by Deshmukh until he became the minister and is now headed by his son Rohan, had applied for a Central grant under the RKVY.

While ₹24.81 crore was sanctioned to process milk into skimmed powder, the Congress alleged the processing plants shown in the proposal either don’t exist or are defunct.

The district milk trade development officer, in their report dated October 4, said the inspection of the society proved four plants were non-functional and fifth one did not exist.

“The documents submitted by the society were found to be bogus and immediate action needs to be taken by the department,” it stated.

Deshmukh said he was no longer associated with the society and a clarification would be issued by it.

“In the interest of the farmers, LMCSL decided to set up a milk processing plant and appointed a consultant to obtain all permissions. We had entered into an agreement with the consultant. When we learnt about the alleged irregularities, we wrote to the dairy development commissioner for a neutral inquiry. Until then, we decided not to spend a single paisa from the grant,” a statement by LMCSL said.

Nirupam said the proposal of setting up the plant was taken in May 2015, when Deshmukh was the chairman of the group.

He also alleged the sanction to the proposal by the society was given by a high-level committee of officers led by then chief secretary Sumit Mullick in December 2017.

Nirupam has demanded a high-level probe into the alleged scam and removal of the minister from cabinet with immediate effect.