CVC looks into IFFCO's transfer of prime property to MD

IFFCO has denied the charge saying neither the cooperative is government owned or funded agency, nor the property in question is public property

Anti-graft agency CVC is looking into the issue of how a prime South Delhi property of IFFCO was transferred to its Managing Director U S Awasthi as special incentive by the fertiliser cooperative's board of which he is a key member.     

The Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC) is investigating a complaint filed by Registrar and Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) of South-West Delhi on the transfer of a 1,000-square yard property in the national capital's posh locality Hauz Khas to Awasthi by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Society.     

While the complaint alleged financial impropriety, IFFCO denied the charge saying neither the cooperative is government owned or funded agency, nor the property in question is a public property.     

"In the complaint, Registrar Nikhil Kumar said that IFFCO has indulged in a financially improper transaction, through which prime land worth several crore has been transferred to its Managing Director through a conveyance deed in January this year," a senior government officer said.     

Kumar has also brought this transaction to the notice of the Secretaries of the department of Agriculture and Fertiliser, apart from the CVC, the official added.     

It was not, however, immediately clear if the CVC can probe IFFCO or suggest action as the cooperative is a body outside the purview of the government.     

Another government official, who did not wish to be identified, said though the government does not currently have a legal remit over IFFCO, it is considering appointing Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) for cooperative societies.     Meanwhile, IFFCO spokesperson Harshendra Verdhan told PTI "It is clarified that there is no government equity in IFFCO and the property of IFFCO is not a public property.

Further, it is vehemently denied that the any fraud has been committed as alleged in the news.     

"There is no conflict of interest in an officer receiving compensation or ex-gratia in recognition of his contributions. It bears repetition to say that the whole controversy seems to have cropped up based on a misunderstanding that the property in question is a public property which it is not," he added.     

IFFCO was registered on November 3, 1967 as a multi-unit co-operative society for production and distribution of fertilisers. Close to 40,000 cooperative societies distributing fertiliser to farmers are associated with IFFCO, which is managed by a board headed by N P Patel, a cooperator from Gujarat.     

The Board comprises of functional directors and representatives of cooperative federations of states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharasthra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.     

Awasthi has managed to get elected as Managing Director of IFFCO for several terms since he was first appointed by the cooperative's board as the head in February 1993.