Cynicism grips even government officials

patna: cynicism about rampant corruption bedevilling the government machinery in bihar is not confined to only general public. on the contrary, it has infected even officials, which has been amply proved by two senior officials who testified before the financial management and internal resource committee (fmirc) of the legislative council that probed the fertiliser subsidy scam.the fmirc has detected fraud committed by the state directorate of agriculture in testifying the sale of fertilisers for payment of 20 per cent of the subsidy, amounting to rs 162.05 crore, by the union agriculture ministry. the union agriculture ministry has already paid over rs 838 crore, as 80 per cent subsidy claims, to fertiliser companies. the fmirc report has made some startling disclosures about recorded opinion of bihar government's senior officials on the alleged defalcation of over rs 1,000 crore worth of subsidy paid to fertiliser companies by the centre in connivance with senior officials of the state directorate of agriculture. statements made by the then agriculture production commissioner (apc) ashok kumar chaudhary and additional director general of police (adgp) of the vigilance bureau d p ojha before the fmirc have also pointed to "corrupt practices indulged in by officials and politicians" in bihar. chaudhary told the committee that following unearthing of the defalcation of subsidy, the state government had "helped guilty officials by referring the matter to the vigilance bureau." the vigilance inquiry, however, had started even before the chief minister gave the green signal, chaudhary had added. ojha told the house committee that subsidy paid to companies and their dealers constitutes "the main basis of their earnings as they have to pay chanda (contributions) to everybody," making an oblique reference to the accompanying practice of greasing the palms. ojha also told the committee that payment of such a large amount of subsidy -- 80 per cent at the initial stage of supply and 20 per cent after the state government testifies to utilisation on the basis of reports from district and block-level agriculture department officials -- by the union agriculture ministry had been made in connivance with officials of the state agriculture department under a well-planned "conspiracy". for, the payment had been made without actual sale of subsidised fertilisers to the farmers at the village level, he added. ojha, too, suggested that the inquiry be entrusted to the cbi as the "issue" had wider ramifications. the fmirc has recommended a cbi inquiry into alleged defalcation of around rs 1,000 crore worth of subsidy paid to various fertiliser companies during 1994-1998. the report says the "defalcation" involves connivance of officials of the union government, state directorate of agriculture and fertiliser companies. besides, the committee has also recommended filing of firs against the then agriculture director of the state, district agriculture officers and other junior-level officials of the department as prima facie charges were established against them. incidentally, the centre has made no inquiry into the payment of subsidy to fertiliser companies and their dealers despite repeated efforts of the house committee, the fmirc report has maintained, insisting that the accountant general had rightly detected fraudulent payment of subsidy to the tune of over rs 1,000 crore by the centre. the report has also referred to "corruption" prevailing in the union agriculture ministry as the payment of subsidy to fertiliser companies and their dealers was made without properly verifying if fertilisers had actually been made available to farmers at subsidised rates at the village level. significantly, the fmirc report has maintained that the payment of subsidy had been made by the union agriculture ministry as district agriculture officers (daos) provided certificates regarding the sale of fertilisers without getting reports on the exact sale of subsidised fertilisers to farmers between 1994 and 1998.