How A Covid-Era Food Kit Scheme And Fake Bills Triggered Rajasthan’s Rs 2,000 Crore Mid-Day Meal Scam: A Look Inside

Rajasthan’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed an FIR over what it calls a massive Rs 2,000 crore scam tied to the mid-day meal scheme during the Covid-19 lockdown.

They’ve named 21 people in the case; some are government officials, others are private suppliers.

According to a report by a reputed publication, the trouble started when schools shut down for the pandemic. Instead of regular meals, students got combo food packs with pulses, spices, cooking oil, and other basics.

These packs were supposed to go straight to schools through the Rajasthan State Cooperative Consumers’ Federation Limited, or CONFED. Officials claimed the supplies met FSSAI and Agmark standards. 

 Rajasthan mid-day meal fraud 

The ACB’s early investigation says officials running the mid-day meal scheme teamed up with CONFED to rig the procurement process. They shut out eligible firms and handed contracts to their preferred companies, giving them unfair advantages.

It gets worse. Investigators say some of these companies then passed the work off to other groups, forming a tangled network of fake suppliers and transporters. In many cases, they sent in forged invoices for food that was never bought or delivered and the government paid out anyway.

The ACB says this web of fake bills, forged documents, and backroom deals drained about Rs 2,000 crore from the state’s funds.

How the officials pulled off the scam

The FIR mentions the names of a few CONFED officials, including the assistant accounts officer Sanvatram, managers Lokesh Kumar Bapna, Yogendra Sharma, Rajendra and Rajendra Singh Shekhawat, assistant manager Pratibha Saini, supervisor Dinesh Kumar Sharma, and the warehouse keeper Ramdhan Bairwa. Central Bhandar officials, regional managers as well as deputy managers have been booked.

In the IAF airbase in Sriganganagar, Rajasthan HC grants land acquisition amid protests by farmers. 

The list also includes private firms with names such as Jagrut Enterprise, Sai Trading, Tirupati Suppliers and the names of the owners of these companies and other persons, according to a report conducted by PTI.

According to the agency, an extensive examination of the role of the accused, financial dealings, forgery of documents as well as the misuse of government funds in this case is under investigation. 

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