3-4% graft in every government scheme, says agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate

MUMBAI: In an audacious statement on government schemes, state agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate on Tuesday said that there was “3-4% corruption in every government scheme”. The NCP leader was talking about the Re 1 crop insurance scheme in which over 400,000 bogus applicants were found during a scrutiny process.

Kokate, while accepting that there were a staggering number of fake applications, said that this did not mean the scheme should be discontinued. “We have no plans to stop it; instead, we will work to rectify the lacunae in the application system,” he said.

BJP MLA Suresh Dhas, during the recent winter session of the state legislature, had raised the issue of corruption in the Re 1 crop insurance scheme in Beed, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Nanded districts. Following the allegations, the state agriculture commissioner conducted a scrutiny of the applications and found that more than 400,000 of the 16.8 million applications were bogus. His report recommended that the government discontinue the scheme.

Under the Re 1 insurance scheme, a farmer gets insurance cover for his crops by paying just Re 1 as premium. The rest of the premium is paid by the state government, and the farmer gets compensation if his crop is damaged by natural calamities.

Speaking about the issue, Kokate said, “It is true that as per reports, around 400,000 bogus applications were detected in a total of 16.8 million applications. In government schemes, there is always 3-4% corruption. But it does not mean that the scheme should be discontinued. Instead, the government needs to rectify the problems, and we have decided to take corrective measures through the use of technology to curb the bogus applications.”

Kokate added that Common Services Centres (CSCs) got ₹40 per application for the insurance scheme and thus CSC employees had got involved in the bogus application scam. He said the government had initiated action against 96 CSCs across the state.

According to the report of the agriculture department, the bogus applications were of several types. One was fake information about the crops grown, where applicants would show crops that were entitled to more compensation. Then there was the ploy of showing land that was not in their name but belonged to the government or a trust. “In some cases, we found that applications for a particular crop in a particular area surpassed the area in which the crop was cultivated in that region,” said an official. “So physical verification was done and we found the bogus applicants.” The official added that the number of fake applications could increase as the scrutiny was still going on.

According to agriculture department officials, for this year’s kharif season, 16.8 million applications were submitted for Re 1 crop insurance scheme on a total of 112.55 lakh hectares of land. The state government has paid ₹1,436 crore towards the scheme.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare said that Kokate’s statement was shocking. “His statement is an acceptance of corruption in the Mahayuti government,” she said. “Recently Dy CM Ajit Pawar announced that he did not want people with a tainted image. Now he should make his stand clear on Kokate’s statement. Also, the scam that Kokate is talking about was during the tenure of former agriculture minister Dhananjay Munde. It also raises the question: what exactly is going on in the NCP?”

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said that Kokate’s statements had exposed the ‘Beed pattern’ in the crop insurance scheme. He also demanded that action be taken against not just the bogus applicants but also the real masterminds of the scam.