Rampant corruption in agriculture road maps, CM Nitish directly involved, alleges former Minister Sudhakar Singh

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA and former Agriculture Department Minister Sudhakar Singh on Monday alleged corruption in the Agriculture Department in the implementation of agriculture road maps and demanded a probe.

He shared a letter he had written while heading the department on manipulation of funds on a large scale in Bihar Agriculture Road map scheme.

“While being the Agriculture Minister, I had written a letter [No. 280, dated 17-09-2022] and ordered departmental inquiry so that it can be known how much the farmers of Bihar benefitted after implementation of the three road maps and spending around ₹3.75 lakh crore on the projects in the last 15 years,” Mr. Singh said at his residence in Patna while addressing the media.

He further said, “After two weeks of this order, I had to resign due to political reasons, but it is clear that corruption is taking place on a large scale in Bihar in the name of agriculture road maps in which the Chief Minister is directly involved. Till date no probe has been carried out, my question is on whose instructions the Agriculture Minister’s order was ignored?”

The first agriculture road map was launched in 2008, second in 2012, third in 2017 and fourth in 2023. A total of ₹1,62,268.78 crore has been approved for the fourth agricultural road map.

Last Friday, Mr. Kumar had given the order to probe irregularities in the department headed by RJD leaders

“As per the agriculture road map, ₹45,000-₹46000 crore is given directly to the department dealing with sectors such as agriculture, animal and fishery resources, cooperation, sugarcane, environment and forest, food processing, and minor irrigation. This is 27-28% of the estimated expenditure of ₹1,62,268.78 crore. This means the allocation being made in agriculture road map is only 28% and other departmental expenses account for 70-72%,” Mr. Singh said.

He alleged that expenses related to Rural Works, Roads and Registration Departments have also been made a part of the agricultural road map “which is a big fraud”.

Mr. Singh said according to the Economic Survey for 2023-24 of Bihar government, the current production of three major foodgrains has decreased in comparison to the last few years. “That too when the government has spent an estimated ₹1.5 lakh crore on the third agriculture road map,” he further said.

Sharing data, Mr. Singh said that rice and pulses production had steadily declined in the State. “Rice decreased by about 3,65,000 metric tonnes in five years, wheat production decreased by 2,90,000 metric tonnes in one year and pulses production by about 40,000 tonnes. These figures clearly indicate that the agriculture road map is the biggest scam in the history of Bihar, a scam in which Nitish Kumar is directly involved,” Mr. Singh said.

Sharing further data which he claimed is based on the Economic Survey and Budget presented by the government last week, Mr. Singh said the current debt of Bihar government (2022-23) is ₹2,93,307 crore, which is expected to increase to ₹3,19,075 crore next year. A total of 9.5% of the State budget is being spent every year in repaying State loans and interest.

“Bihar’s gross fiscal deficit for the year 2022-23 is 6% or ₹44,823 crore. Bihar is the State with the highest gross fiscal deficit in the country and it is estimated that by next year, this gross fiscal deficit will reach ₹66,000 crore (8.9%),” he said.

“There is a great need for industrial development in a backward State like Bihar. Despite the historical context and the poor current state of industrial development, only ₹1,833.09 crore has been allocated to the Industries Department, which is only 0.67% of the total Budget. The total debt of Bihar government for the year 2022-23 has become 39% of the State’s GDP. That means, in a way, a large part of the GDP of Bihar State [about 40%] is in the category of debt,” Mr. Singh said.