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Aavin orders probe into cash seizure in Vellore
The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (TCMPF) has ordered an inquiry into the seizure of unaccounted cash of Rs 14.85 lakh by the DVAC during the recent raids. Days after the searches by the vigilance teams, KS Murali Prasad GM (in-charge) of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts cooperative milk producers’ union was suspended.
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Vellore
“The inquiry will cover all issues so that the entire truth about each and everything comes out,” officials said. However, union sources revealed that the raid was long overdue as information about the rampant corruption inthe local office had reached even the Aavin head officeat Chennai.
Officials added that, “KS Murali Prasad was suspended immediately as there were lot of charges on him and Sekar, executive (engineering), who acted as a mediator between the GM and victims. What galled former Velloreunion staff was the demand of 35% cut by the ex-GM todisburse five year arrears for 11 staffers.”
The same office was in the news few months ago, when some candidates who had reportedly joined service by producing bogus certificates were terminated. Similarly, milk was sent to some ‘influential’ agents to get bribe came out and, subsequently, the private contract for that route was cancelled.
Sources revealed that a few years ago, milk sales reached more than 1 lakh litres on daily basis and now it has dipped to 70,000 litres because of such malpractice by insiders.
Similarly, Bulk Milk Coolers (BMCs) numbering nearly 100 in the operational area were provided with reverse osmosis (RO) plants to clean silos at exorbitant cost despite the BMCs already having bores to supply water for this purpose. “This was even objected to during an annual audit,” sources revealed.
“A few years ago, this union earned more than Rs 25 crore profit of which Rs 15 crore was given to milk farmers. The remaining Rs 10 crore was frittered away by unnecessary expenditure,” an official added.
When asked V Kothandaraman, GM (in-charge), said, “If given a free hand, I can restore the old glory of this union within three months.”
But will the government do so is a moot question.
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