Uttarakhand seems to have been fully embroiled in corruption cases like cheating and appointment scams of UKSSSC and UK Assembly appointments through unfair means and thereafter a massive horticulture scam which has recently come to light with RTI activist Deepak Kargeti and Guinness Book record holder also known as apple man of Uttarakhand Gopal Upreti approaching the courts to seek justice and punishing the guilty officer against whom there are number of alleged corruption charges in Horticulture department of Uttarakhand.
Recently, news about a scam related to awarding a contract of forty five thousand trees to one Nitin Sharma’s company ( Rishikesh) worth 2 crores 7 lakhs at the cost of one plant fixed for Rs. 460 has come to light literally creating commotion in the bureaucratic circles of Uttarakhand.
The matter was brought to light after Devbhoomi Media has tweeted that the director of Horticulture Mr. Harinder Baweja has issued a letter regarding allocating a contract of 45000 plants to a company owned by Nitin Sharma of Rishikesh to be sown at Oadgaon in Uttarkashi, Garhwal in a garden that actually doesn’t exists.
But since there is no such garden in Odgaon, Uttarkashi, where have the 45000 plants gone etc tweeted Devbhoomi media.
This was blatantly against the Uttarakhand Nursery Act norms and open favour arbitrarily to a known person who has nothing to do with horticulture and whose company doesn’t own any farm in the said village of Uttarkashi.
This Twitter of Devbhoomi media created quite a sensation as the horticulturists and farmers of Odgaon, Uttarkashi after personally visiting the site found no garden/ farm with no plants as such and protested by calling the local media and raising slogans against Mr. Baweja, director horticulture and the government – demanding a thorough high level probe into the scam of about Rs. 2.7 crores.
As a result the agriculture minister Ganesh Joshi ordered a probe into this scam.
After finding themselves having been exposed the director horticulture and his subordinates immediately brought some trucks with the said plants in desperation and tried to misguide the Odgaon people, farmers and horticulturists with the help of some political workers of Lodh village nearby who had planted some plants in their gardens to misguide people. But they forgot that the 45000 plants were sanctioned for Odgaon, Uttarkashi not Lodh village.
Speaking in one of the debates the RTI activist Deepak Kargeti while accusing director horticulture Harvinder Baweja for allegedly having been involved in knee deep corruption said that he is happy that the chief minister who’s agriculture minister had ordered an inquiry into this episode will expose the corrupt bureaucrats of horticulture department and punish the guilty stringently as the soul of Uttarakhand is horticulture which is being literally killed and massive corruption being committed causing immense harm to public exchequer.
It may be recalled that sidelining the genuine horticulturists and farmers of Uttarakhand, especially Uttarkashi, the director of Horticulture Dr. Harinder Baweja already infamous for being tainted has allegedly awarded the contract of 45000 plants of important varieties to a company owned by one Mr. Sharma of Rishikesh. These plants were to be fixed in Odgaon in Uttarkashi where after detailed examination it was found that no garden actually exists here. According to the news reports this huge contract was allegedly given on just papers with the malafide intention to allegedly pocket govt money though corrupt deeds which got exposed after some enlightened journalists exposed the scoop.
