Gujarat government shuts down own its agri company over corruption charges

The Gujarat government has decided to wind up Gujarat State Land Development Corporation (GSLDC) following allegations of corruption and financial irregularities, state agriculture minister RC Faldu said on Wednesday.

Formed in 1978, the state-run GSLDC's main task was to provide technical and financial help to farmers in constructing farm ponds for irrigation.

“Irregularities in GSLDC have come to the government's notice. Thus, in the interest of people, we have decided to dissolve the corporation," Faldu said after a weekly Cabinet meeting. “The government is in no mood to tolerate any irregularity and for the same it has decided to wind up GSLDC,” he added.

GSLDC's staff and machinery will be shifted to other departments to continue the entity's core work, he said. There are about 100 employees in the government-run company but it used to give contracts for all agriculture related activities including development of irrigation projects in rain-deficient areas and building infrastructure to help farmers.

In April, the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had raided GSLDC's headquarters in Gandhinagar and recovered ₹56.50 lakh in unaccounted-for cash.

Following the raid, five officials, including GSLDC's managing director KS Detroja and joint director KC Parmar, were arrested on charges of taking bribes from farmers who had applied for government grants under various schemes run by the corporation. The officials released on bail have denied the allegations.

In the last few months, the anti-graft agency raided several other district level offices of the corporation and found financial irregularities, Faldu said.