Fake farmers, crores lost: Madhya Pradesh's wheat MSP procurement scam exposed
A massive fraud in Madhya Pradesh's minimum support price (MSP) wheat procurement programme has exposed how crores of rupees were siphoned off by creating fake
A massive fraud in Madhya Pradesh's minimum support price (MSP) wheat procurement programme has exposed how crores of rupees were siphoned off by creating fake farmer identities, allowing fraudsters to sell wheat at government procurement centres and receive payments directly into their bank accounts. The alleged scam has come to light in at least two districts, Bhind and Rajgarh, where the state government has initiated disciplinary and criminal action against officials and beneficiaries. Read Full Story The revelations come just days after Chief Minister Mohan Yadav praised this year's procurement drive as the largest in the country. According to the state government, nearly 10.42 million metric tonnes of wheat were procured from over 1.341 million farmers at the MSP of Rs 2,585 per quintal, setting a new state record. However, investigators now believe the record procurement was inflated by a network of fake registrations allegedly facilitated by government officials.
HOW THE SCAM WORKED According to information accessed by India Today, the fraud was carried out with the alleged connivance of revenue and procurement officials. The last date for farmer registration was March 10. Investigators found that a large number of registrations were made between March 5 and March 10, many during late-night and early-morning hours. Officials suspect fraudsters used the land records (khasra numbers) of genuine farmers, including Scheduled Caste beneficiaries, to create fake identities. Under procurement rules, patwaris and tehsildars are required to verify registrations and reject suspicious applications. Instead, many registrations were allegedly approved without proper scrutiny. In several cases, investigators found no evidence of tenancy agreements. In others, wheat was registered in one location but weighed and procured at another. While the land belonged to genuine farmers, the government payments were allegedly transferred directly to bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
WHY FAKE FARMERS WERE CREATED The scam appears to have been driven by the price difference between wheat sold in neighbouring states and the procurement price offered by Madhya Pradesh. Fraudsters allegedly purchased cheaper wheat, including lower-quality produce, from neighbouring states and sold it at procurement centres in Madhya Pradesh using fake farmer identities. Since the state offers one of the country's higher MSPs along with a government bonus, the price arbitrage enabled the accused to make illegal profits worth crores of rupees. ACTION BEGINS IN BHIND AND RAJGARH The alleged scam has raised serious questions about the integrity of the state's procurement system. In Bhind, several patwaris have been suspended, and the district administration has registered FIRs against four alleged fake farmers. Show-cause notices have also been issued to the tehsildars of Jaura and Banmore.
The BriefWire