HP govt to probe ‘irregularities’ by Adani Group: Revenue minister Negi - Hindustan Times
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HP govt to probe ‘irregularities’ by Adani Group: Revenue minister Negi

By, Shimla
Mar 28, 2023 11:34 PM IST

Strict action will be taken if any wrongdoing is found, said revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi, who also holds the horticulture portfolio, while replying to a question asked by Theog MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore in the assembly

The Himachal Pradesh government will launch a probe into the alleged irregularities in setting up of controlled atmosphere (CA) stores in the state’s apple belt and violation of the Agriculture Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act by the Adani Group, revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said on Tuesday.

The Himachal Pradesh government will launch a probe into the alleged irregularities in setting up of controlled atmosphere (CA) stores in the state’s apple belt and violation of the Agriculture Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act by the Adani Group, revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said on Tuesday. (HT File)
The Himachal Pradesh government will launch a probe into the alleged irregularities in setting up of controlled atmosphere (CA) stores in the state’s apple belt and violation of the Agriculture Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act by the Adani Group, revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said on Tuesday. (HT File)

Strict action will be taken if any wrongdoing is found, said Negi, who also holds the horticulture portfolio, while replying to a question asked by Theog MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore in the assembly.

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He said between 2008 and 2011, the National Horticulture Board provided subsidy of about 16 crore to Adani Group through NABARD for setting up CA stores in Himachal, but no MoU has been signed in this regard.

Negi said the government would find out whether it could legally ink the pact after so many years to protect the interests of the growers. The minister informed the House that Adani Group has set up CA stores at Sainj in Theog, Mehadali in Rohru and Revali in Kumarsain tehsil of Shimla district.

Earlier, raising the issue through a supplementary question, Rathore had said that CA stores were set up by Adani Group without signing an MoU. He claimed the Adani Group declares its rates in the middle of the season which results in crash in the market. Due to the sudden fall of prices, apple growers suffer huge losses, he added.

Shimla (Urban) MLA Harish Janartha said the procurement rates of apples should be fixed after consultation with the growers and there should be some mechanism to fix the rates.

In reply to another question asked by Dharamshala MLA Sudhir Sharma, the revenue minister said out of total 16,352 Pong Dam oustees, certificates have been issued to 15,352 people. He said that Kangra’s additional superintendent of police has been appointed as the nodal officer for redressal of complaints of illegal encroachments and other issues faced by Pong Dam oustees.

For timely redressal of the issues, the complaints have been forwarded to the Rajasthan Police, he said, adding that the stakeholders have been invited thrice for disbursement of eligibility certificates to the remaining oustees and submit their requisite documents for land allocation. “After verification, their cases can be sent to the Rajasthan government.”

In response to a question by MLA Sanjay Rattan, rural development and panchayati raj minister Anirudh Singh said the state government will reorganise the development blocks in Himachal before the panchayat elections to be held in the year 2025.

He said that reorganisation would be done after consultation with the MLAs. He said in the constituencies which still do not have block development offices, the government will consider opening these offices according to the need. He said the government would consider opening block development offices at Palampur, Jawalamukhi and Panchrukhi. He said some blocks were denotified because the previous government had carved out development blocks of only 15 to 20 panchayats.

In response to the question of MLA Ravi Thakur, deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the transport portfolio, said there are 46 buses at Keylong depot which have completed their life and have to be replaced.

Equal number of buses is to be replaced in Reckong Peo depot, he said, adding that the state government or the corporation is currently not in a position to replace these buses at once and the HRTC instead would provide 10 new buses each to Keylong and Reckong Peo depots.

Replying to a question raised by MLA Puran Chand Thakur, Agnihotri said the government would submit the project for channelisation of Mandah Khad to the central government for funding. He also appealed to the Opposition for its cooperation to get the project approved.

He said presently, the entire focus of the central government is on the Jal Jeevan Mission and works such as drinking water, irrigation and flood control were not on its priority list.

Notification for strengthening institution of MLAs to be issued

Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday said that a notification would be released and guidelines be framed by the committee to suggest steps for strengthening the institution of Vidhan Sabha and MLAs.

He was replying to the issue raised through point of order immediately after the question hour by Trilok Jamwal (BJP), who said so far, no committee has been constituted.

The chief minister had assured the house on March 24 said that a committee of senior MLAs would be constituted to prepare the report on strengthening the Vidhan Sabha secretariat and safeguarding the dignity of MLAs.

The assurance came after Bhawani Singh Pathania (Congress) raised the issue that his vehicle was challenged by judicial magistrate for displaying MLA flag on his vehicle, while the magistrate who challaned his vehicle was having nameplate on his vehicle which is not allowed under the Motor Vehicles Act.

Replying in the House, parliamentary affairs minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said a committee has been constituted in this regard and named two BJP MLAs – Vipin Parmar and Anil Sharma.

However, leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said that there is no clarity on the committee and asked the names of the Congress MLAs included in the committee.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Gaurav Bisht heads Hindustan Times’ Himachal bureau. He covers politics in the hill state and other issues concerning the masses.

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