Minister Arjun Khotkar exposed as an agent who cheated Tur farmers in 4000cr Tur Scam

Maharashtra, a state which is the farmer suicide capital, had a bumper pulse crop of Tur. Despite Tur being most widely consumed and despite being retailed at Rs.200 per kilo, the farmers did not even get Rs.35 a kilo. The state government, stepped in to seemingly help the farmers and offered to but the Tur at a Minimum Selling Price of Rs.55 a kilo.

What really happened was that agents bought Tur from poor farmers at rates less than MSP and sold it to the government at MSP, making a clear profit. The poor farmers were cheated out of their ability to sell Tur directly to government by unscrupulous Mandi officials and agents. So the government procurement plan, instead of benefitting farmers, turned out to be a scam which benefitted Mandi agents, allegedly to the tune of 4000 crores.

One expose on the Tur Scam mentions how there is Tur Dal worth 50 lacs, lying abandoned in the Jalna APMC because it was fraudulently procured and now no agent is willing to claim that they had cultivated over 400 acres of land to yield this crop. Read here – http://www.theweek.in/news/biz-tech/toor-dal-procurement-scam-estimated-to-be-over-Rs-4000-crore.htm

The investigation that identified agents who fraudulently claimed to be farmers, the name of Minster for Animal Husbandry, Arjun Khotkar and his family has emerged. They have claimed to have produced 387 quintals of tur on their own tilled lands. Which brings out two questions -1) how does a Shivsena Minister, Arjun Khotkar own 400 acres of land and 2) can he prove he was growing Tur on these fabled lands. It is a shame and disgrace that a member of the State Cabinet himself is an agent that cheated the farmers of their rightful price and tried to make money out of the government procurement scheme. There can be no bigger proof that whole Tur procurement plan was merely a scam meant to benefit people in the ruling combine with scant regard for the woes of farmers.

Aam Aadmi Party has in the past exposed how Arjun Khotkar, his brother and cronies have made 600 crores from the fraudulent sale of galas in APMC Jalna and many other irregularities and malpractices. Had Khotkar been held accountable he would not have had chance to keep cheating farmers in the manner.

Along with many farmers, AAP karyakartas in Jalna had made several complaints against agents in the Tur scam. However, as much as it would please us to say that we exposed Arjun Khotkar’s Tur Scam, we had no hand in it. This was a finding of government agencies. Arjun Khotkar took a press conference in Jalna alluding that AAP was the one who exposed his name, specifically targeting Kailash Phulari, ex Convenor Jalna and journalist. Thereafter Phulari received a number of threats which we have reported SP Jalna.

We have a few things to say to Arjun Khotkar, firstly he should not do such things where he will be exposed. If he does scams, then sooner or later he will get exposed and will be punished for it. More important, if AAP had uncovered his Tur scam, then we would have boldly held a press conference and exposed it. Unfortunately, we only heard it ourselves from the media. Now that his name has been exposed, we will definitely write to the authorities and demand that a thorough investigation be done on his role. He should stop threatening our members, because we are not scared of his goondagardi.

Sincerely,

Preeti Sharma Menon