Rajasthan: Kirodi Lal Meena holds marathon review meeting after nine-month hiatus; suspends joint director

Jaipur, April 7 (IANS) Nine months after stepping down from his ministerial post, Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena held a marathon review meeting with department officials at Pant Krishi Bhawan on Monday.

From 11 a.m. until late evening, Kirodi assessed the functioning of the department and issued strict directives regarding negligence and irregularities.

The most significant action was the suspension of the then Joint Director of Quality Control, Gajanand Yadav, for failing to act against companies that supplied fake agricultural products in free minikit distributions.

These kits, meant for farmers, were found to contain zero active content upon inspection - essential components like bio-fertilizers and micronutrients were entirely absent.

An official said that the Agriculture Minister ordered the suspension of the then Joint Director of Quality Control, Gajanand Yadav, for not taking action in the case of irregularities in the minikits distributed free to the farmers.

He added that zero content report was found in the investigation of the minikits of bio-fertilizer, bioagent and micronutrient distributed free to the farmers, adding that the fertilizer and bioagent, which should have been there, were not there at all.

He said that the companies involved in the supply of these substandard minikits include Chem Biotech Reico Sarnadungar, Spectrum Agri Sciences Ringas, among others.

The official said that despite test failures, no action was previously taken against these companies.

“In addition, Bharatpur Joint Horticulture Director Yogesh Kumar Sharma has been transferred to Bikaner after putting him on awaited posting orders (APO), following complaints regarding non-payment of subsidies for beekeeping boxes,” the official said.

He added that the Agriculture Minister also instructed action against inspectors who failed to file legal cases related to substandard fertilisers dating back to 2010–11.

He said that the minister also ordered the cancellation of the agreement with Kshema General Insurance Company for allegedly cheating insured farmers in Sriganganagar and Bundi under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

“A state-level committee has been directed to investigate irregularities in drip irrigation schemes in Sawai Madhopur and Jalore,” the official added.

--IANS

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