Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Activist Anjali Damania on Tuesday alleged that there was a Rs 88-crore scam in the agriculture department when NCP leader Dhananjay Munde held the portfolio in the previous Mahayuti coalition government in Maharashtra.

Munde, currently the Cabinet Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in the Mahayuti 2.0 government, termed the allegations as "baseless" and said he will file a defamation suit against her.

There were no irregularities in the tender process as claimed by Damania, and his department provided nano fertiliser to farmers at rates lower than market prices, he claimed.

Holding a press conference here, Damania, a former Aam Aadmi Party leader, claimed despite the Union government's 2016 directive to transfer money directly to farmers' bank accounts under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), the agriculture department purchased equipment and fertilisers for distribution to farmers at inflated rates.

Munde is already under fire over the arrest of his close aide Walmik Karad in an extortion case related to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district, the minister's home turf in central Maharashtra.

At the press meet, Damania presented documents related to the alleged scam.

"These documents are proof of how the minister siphoned off farmers' money and violated laws. As per the government resolution (GR) on DBT, all scheme-related funds were to be transferred directly to farmers' bank accounts, except for certain government entities such as Mahabeej, KVK, and MAIDC, which produce their own goods. However, this rule was disregarded," she claimed.

The activist referred to a GR dated September 12, 2018, which listed 62 components under DBT.

While the chief minister has the power to add new components to the DBT list, the existing components could not be removed without approval of a committee of the chief secretary, finance secretary and planning secretary, Damania pointed out.

Just before the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections came into effect, the state government issued a new GR on March 12, 2024, appointing agriculture commissioner as controlling officer for purchasing agricultural inputs, she said.

Then-agriculture commissioner Pravin Gedam raised concerns on March 15, 2024, stating that implementation of a purchase-based scheme was wrong, the activist claimed.

Gedam pointed out that as the items being procured were not produced by Mahabeej or MAIDC, the funds should have been disbursed through DBT to farmers instead of purchasing these items, she said.

Gedam told Munde about these irregularities, but the then-farm minister advised the Director and Deputy Secretary of the Agriculture Department to proceed with the purchases, Damania alleged.

Gedam was not immediately available for comments.

On March 15, Munde allegedly sought permission from then-deputy CM and finance minister Ajit Pawar to issue tenders. Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), approved the request, Damania claimed.

Then-Chief Minister Eknath Shinde approved the removal of certain components from the DBT list, despite not having the authority to d so, she alleged.

The agriculture department under Munde was guilty of major financial irregularities in the procurement of five items, namely, nano urea, nano DAP, battery sprayers, metaldehyde pesticide and cotton bags, the activist alleged.

Nano urea and nano DAP, produced by IFFCO, were allegedly purchased at inflated rates. While a 500-millilitre bottle of nano urea was available for Rs 92 in the market, the agriculture department allegedly issued a tender to purchase it for Rs 220 per bottle. A total of 19,68,408 bottles were procured. Similarly, nano DAP, priced at Rs 269 per bottle in the market, was purchased for Rs 590 per bottle, Damania claimed.

Battery sprayers, available in the market for Rs 2,496 apiece, were procured for Rs 3,425, she said.

Damania had earlier levelled allegations against Munde regarding his alleged financial links to Karad. The opposition has been demanding the minister's resignation since Karad's arrest last month.

Munde dismissed all allegations as baseless. "None of the allegations levelled by her in various cases over the years have been substantiated. May be she is considering return to politics and that is why making such allegations," the minister added.

Beyond creating sensation, there was nothing to the allegations, the NCP minister asserted, adding, "whoever has instigated her to target me, I extend my best wishes to them." The NCP leader claimed the March 2024 tender process was conducted as per government norms.

He had been facing a "media trial" for the last 58 days (apparently referring to the aftermath of the December 9 murder of Massajog sarpanch Deshmukh), Munde claimed.

"Why is this happening? Who is behind it? I do not know. As far as the DBT system is concerned, any exclusion from it requires the approval of both the agriculture minister and CM. When I was agriculture minister, all procedures were duly followed," he asserted.

On the nano fertiliser row, Munde noted, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has endorsed nano fertiliser. After his encouragement, Maharashtra provided it to 4,00,000 farmers. It was procured from a central government-affiliated company, and its price remains the same across the country." "We provided it at an even lower rate and there was no wrongdoing," he said.

Munde later said, "I am going to take legal action against her. I will file a defamation suit against Damania in the Bombay High Court in the coming days." PTI ND PR VT KRK RSY