Haryana government today referred the case of "irregularities" found in the purchase of Rexil fungicide during previous Congress led government to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for inquiry.
The approval in this regard was given by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
The state had suffered a loss of about Rs 80 crore because of the irregularities in the purchase of Rexil. This was disclosed by the Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar in a press release issued here today.
Notably, senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka who was the then MD of the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation had also questioned the efficacy of the fungicide.
The previous government started purchasing Rexil medicine in 2010-11 and the purchase continued until the formation of the new government. During this period, Rexil medicine worth about Rs 100 crore was purchased, Dhankar said.
Dhankar said that the previous government had also allegedly sent its recommendations for Bayer Company's Rexil medicine though not registered with the Pesticide Management Board.
Patent Rexil medicine is available for Rs 1,350 per kg whereas generic medicine costs Rs 300 per kg. Soon after coming to power, the BJP Government recommended use of the generic medicine because it is cheaper than Rexil, he said.
Agriculture minister said though not registered, an advertisement was got printed in favour of the medicine of Bayer Company.
"This cost the state exchequer dear. The issue was also brought to notice of the the standing committee of Parliament which resented one-sided promotion. Since the matter also involves funds from the National Agriculture Development Plan, the state government is committed to taking action. Therefore, the matter has been sent to CVC after getting approval of the Chief Minister," he said.
When asked about the investigation report on this matter and the people involved, Dhankar said that the CVC would fix responsibility and decide when to make the report public.
"It is for the CVC to decide if the matter is to be transferred to the CBI," he said.
On alleged irregularities in the purchase of medicine for the yellow rust disease found in wheat, Dhankar said if any irregularity was found, investigation would be done and action would be taken by ensuring complete transparency.
In a reply to another question, he said that the state government was taking help of technology. Work is apace on satellite measurement or photo, aerial photograph and mapping of total land record etc, so that information on girdawari etc can be made available at the click of mouse.
