Kalpana Shrivastav recently investigated an onion seed procurement scam. (Representational)
Two top officials of Madhya Pradesh horticulture and food processing department were removed in a swift and surprising move on Saturday night.
Kalpana Srivastava, principal secretary in the horticulture department, has not been given a new charge. Commissioner of the department Manoj Kumar Agrawal, a 1993-batch IFS officer, has been sent back to the forest department.
The transfers came as surprising because the orders were issued on the evening of a non-working day. They also raised eyebrows as Ms Shrivastav, principal secretary to the department, was shifted out soon after she investigated an onion seed procurement scam. The probe led the state economic offences wing to register a preliminary enquiry.
The investigation had revealed that despite the state government fixing the rate of certified seeds at horticulture nurseries at Rs 1,100 per kg, the horticulture department purchased uncertified Kharif onion seeds at Rs 2,300 per kg. The seeds were bought from institutions other than the state-run MP Agro without inviting tenders.
For the first time this year, Kharif onion has been included in the National Horticulture Mission. Thereafter, the department bought 90 quintals of onion seeds for Rs 2 crore.
Commissioner of the department Agrawal was under the scanner in this matter.
A series of scams have been reported in the Madhya Pradesh horticulture department. These include distribution of substandard Chinese power tillers among farmers under the centre's farm mechanisation scheme in tribal-dominated districts, irregularities in plantation along Narmada banks, purchase of marigold seeds 80% of which didn't germinate and an alleged scam in which substandard plastic mulches for onion storage.
It was Ms Srivastava who had ordered an inquiry after the NDTV reported on the irregularities in giving out substandard tillers to farmers.
J N Kansotia, additional chief secretary with the Animal Husbandry department, will now take over the charge earlier held by Ms Srivastava.