Lok Sabha Question No. 305 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-17
Subject: Irregularities in Purchase of Cotton
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Y. S. AVINASH REDDY

## IRREGULARITIES IN PURCHASE OF COTTON

## 305. SHRI Y.V. SUBBA REDDY:

## Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंरी

be pleased to state :

(a) whether  some  irregularities  have  taken  place  in  Andhra  Pradesh  and  Telangana  in cotton purchases;

(b) if so, the details thereof and amount involved therein;

(c) whether it  is  also  true  that  CBI  has  registered  cases  against  Cotton  Corporation  of India (CCI) officials in this regard;

(d) if so, the details thereof and the status of action taken on the CCI officials; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government to check recurrence of such irregularities in future?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER

## वस्त्र मंरी ( )

## MINISTER OF TEXTILES (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (b): Yes,  Madam.  During  cotton  season  2014-15,  Cotton  Corporation  of  India (CCI)  Limited  had  to  undertake  massive  procurement  operation  under  Minimum  Support Price  (MSP) and procured 86.97 lakh bales out  of which  about 63% (i.e.54.47 lakh bales) were procured in the State of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana. Since the procurement operation was  the  biggest  ever  in  Telengana  and  Andhra  Pradesh,  some  lapses  in  identification  of cotton farmers etc. were noticed.

(c) & (d): Yes, Madam. CBI has registered total 10 cases (i.e. 4 cases in Andhra Pradesh &  6  cases  in  Telangana)  against CCI  officials  posted  in  Andhra  Pradesh  &  Telangana  on issues  related  to  identification  of  cotton  farmers  etc and  matter  is  under  investigation  with CBI.  Besides,  Chief  Vigilance  Officer  of  CCI  also  investigated  the  issue  thoroughly  and come into  conclusion  that  concerned  21  CCI  Officials  (List  annexed)  should  also  monitor their purchase operation properly to avoid such type of irregularities. Accordingly, CCI has initiated  Departmental  enquiry  by  appointing  a  Retired  High  Court  Judge  against  all  the above officials which is under progress. In the mean time all the above officials have been transferred to other branches.

(e): To overcome such type of situations,  Government of  India has  requested  all  major cotton  producing  states  to  devise  procedure  so  that  the  officials  from  State  Agriculture Department,  District  Collectors  and  Agricultural  Produce  Marketing  Committee  (APMC) officials may ensure that only bonafide cotton farmers sell their produce to Nodal Agencies without any involvement of Commission Agents or middlemen or traders so as to ensure that the benefit of MSP is received by cotton farmers only and not by anyone else.

|   Sr. No | Names of the employees   | Designation                 | Branch   |
|----------|--------------------------|-----------------------------|----------|
|        1 | Shri K.Sudhakar Rao      | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Guntur   |
|        2 | Shri C.K.Bhatti          | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Adilabad |
|        3 | Shri R.B.Sahare,         | Cotton Purchaser            | Adilabad |
|        4 | Shri B.Rupesh Singh      | Cotton Purchaser            | Adilabad |
|        5 | Shri M.Anandan           | Sr.Cotton Purchase Officer  | Adilabad |
|        6 | Shri V. Ramesh           | Cotton Purchaser            | Adilabad |
|        7 | Shri C.Muralidharan      | Cotton Purchase Officer     | Adilabad |
|        8 | Shri Mahesh R.Kitukule   | Cotton Purchaser            | Adilabad |
|        9 | Shri Pankaj J. Keote     | Cotton Purchaser            | Adilabad |
|       10 | Shri K.V.Krishna Reddy   | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Adilabad |
|       11 | Shri B.H.Nimje           | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Adilabad |
|       12 | Shri Sumit S.Deshmukh    | Cotton Purchaser            | Adilabad |
|       13 | Shri Abhijeet Wankhede   | Cotton Purchase Officer     | Warangal |
|       14 | Shri Harjeet Singh       | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Warangal |
|       15 | Shri P.Mohnan            | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Warangal |
|       16 | Shri S. Soni             | Cotton Purchase Officer     | Warangal |
|       17 | Shri R. Ravinder         | Cotton Purchase Officer     | Warangal |
|       18 | Shri C.P.Prakash         | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Warangal |
|       19 | Shri R.K.Sharma          | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Warangal |
|       20 | Shri A.S.Ghuriya         | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Warangal |
|       21 | Shri Karimulla Khan      | Sr. Cotton Purchase Officer | Warangal |

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