Central and State agencies accused of misappropriating Rs. 992 crore
A transport tender awarded by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) and Food Corporation of India for transport and movement of paddy/foodgrains in all 38 districts/regions of TNCSC has caused the government a loss of Rs. 992 crore due to marked up rates, claimed Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO crusading against corruption.
The organisation has submitted a detailed petition in this regard to the CBI, DRI, Income Tax department and directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption which claimed that public servants of the TNCSC and FCI had offered tenders to a select group of firms including Kandasamy & Co, Muruga Enterprises and Karthikeya Enterprises allegedly related to Christy Friedgram group at 107 per cent higher than market value resulting in a loss of Rs. 992 crore.
“Civil servants with central and state governments broke and bent many laws to award this tender. This is a major scam that took place within the first month of the BJP coming to power again in 2024. We have sent a 40-page complaint and 565 pages of evidence regarding this to the CBI, the State Anti-Corruption Department, the Enforcement Department, the Income Tax Department, Chief Minister Stalin, the Central and State Food Ministers, the Food Secretaries, the Food Commission Director, the State Finance Secretary and others,” said Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor, Arappor Iyakkam.
He went on to add that as a result of this members of the public who have ration cards do not get ration items no matter how often they go to the ration shop. “They get ration items only if they go within the first seven days of the month. The reason for this is the various corruptions taking place in that sector,” Venkatesan said.
The Arappor Movement had already exposed the Rs.2028 crore corruption committed by Christy group of companies in the procurement of ration items in 2021 and submitted a complaint to the anti-corruption department, which is currently under investigation.
The Arappor Movement had already exposed the Rs.2028 crore corruption committed by Christy group of companies in the procurement of ration items in 2021 and submitted a complaint to the anti-corruption department, which is currently under investigation.
Elaborating on the same, he said that after the government purchases the paddy cultivated by farmers at the direct procurement center, it is sent to the storage center, sent to other districts by train, and then converted into rice and taken to the taluka procurement centers.
Until 2020, paddy transportation was done by the truck owners in the respective villages. They used to transport one metric ton of paddy for a distance of 5 km for a fee of Rs. 200-Rs. 250.
In 2020, a tender was floated at the state level for the same consumer goods transportation, and the Tamil Nadu Consumer Goods Trading Corporation awarded the tender to Christy Friedgram Group company Zinc Foods Private Limited for five years at a very high price of Rs. 640 per tonne for the same 5 km.
The Christy company used the same lorry owners who had been transporting till now to transport the goods and took the remaining Rs. 350-400 after paying them Rs. 200-250. Due to this, the government suffered a loss of several thousand crores of rupees. This tender was subsequently cancelled by the government within 3 years.
The tender included the work of transporting paddy from direct procurement centres to storage centres, from there to husking centres and from there to warehouses. The Tamil Nadu Consumer Goods Trading Corporation awarded the tender to Muruga Enterprises, Kandasamy & Co and Karthikeya Enterprises, known as Christy’s benami companies, at a price of Rs. 598, which is Rs. 310 more than the list price of the tender, which was Rs. 288.
Arappor Iyakkam
A tender was again floated in June 2023 for the transportation of paddy and grains in and out of 38 districts of Tamil Nadu from July 2023 to June 2025. The tender included the work of transporting paddy from direct procurement centres to storage centres, from there to husking centres and from there to warehouses. The Tamil Nadu Consumer Goods Trading Corporation awarded the tender to Muruga Enterprises, Kandasamy & Co and Karthikeya Enterprises, known as Christy’s benami companies, at a price of Rs. 598, which is Rs. 310 more than the list price of the tender, which was Rs. 288.
“There is a state committee to finalize these contracts consisting of state and central government officials. This committee will determine the list price of the tender. They should determine this price only after examining the market price. From the time the tender was stopped for Christy due to the high cost of transportation, the lorry owners there have been driving one metric ton for a distance of 8 km at Rs. 330. This committee, which had fixed the list price for this tender at Rs. 288 after examining the market situation, approved Rs. 598, which has created the basis for the conspiracy.
Furthermore, Arappor alleged that the tender rules were set in such a way that only Christy’s proxy companies could participate in this tender.