Rajnandgaon. A case of corruption in the Fisheries Department Rajnandgaon by allocating cages worth crores in the name of its own close ones for fish farming and using the subsidy received from government schemes has come to light. The role of the officials of the Fisheries Department is suspicious in this case. The government has been defrauded of crores of rupees in this entire case. The Directorate of Fisheries Departm
Geetanjali Gajbhiye, the then Assistant Director posted in Rajnandgaon Fisheries Department, got cages worth lakhs allotted in the name of the minor daughter of a posted employee, her sister-in-law, the mother of the driver and another tribal person in her office itself. These cages have been installed in the irrigation reservoir located in Navagaon of Khairagarh – Chhuikhadan – Gandai district. Each unit consists of 18 cages. In this way, a total of 72 cages have been installed here. The cost of each of these 4 unit cages is 56 lakhs. In this, the beneficiaries have been given 100 percent subsidy for each cage. In this, 60 percent financial assistance has been received from Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and 40 percent from Left Wing Extremism Division, i.e. a total of 100 percent. In this way, the officials of the Joint Director’s office, carrying out a major fraud, got cages worth Rs 2 crore 24 lakh allotted in the name of their relatives and relatives of employees posted in the department.
Action will be taken against the culprits after investigation: Collector
One of the 4 cages installed in the irrigation reservoir has been allotted in the name of Bhuvan Porte, but Bhuvan Porte is not aware of this. When the fisheries department issued him a notice for recovery of the three-year lease of this cage, he rushed to the department. The officials gave him all the information. After this, Bhuvan Porte lodged his complaint with the Collector, Superintendent of Police and Assistant Director, then the matter was revealed. In this case, Rajnandgaon Collector Sanjay Agarwal says that the matter is being investigated. Action will be taken on the basis of what comes out in the report.
Cages were allotted to these relatives
This case of cage allotment is of the year 2021. The beneficiary involved in this, Saroj Motghare, is said to be the mother of a driver working in the department. A cage has also been allotted in the name of Durgesh Nandani, who is said to be the daughter of a peon posted in the department. She was a minor when the cage was approved in her name. Similarly, Hemlata Ramteke is said to be the sister-in-law of the then Assistant Director Geetanjali Gajbhiye. All of them are residents of Rajnandgaon. Apart from this, the fourth cage has been allotted in the name of Bhuvan Porte, who is a resident of village Bholi in KCG district.
Corruption in fish farming too, 15 lakh not deposited for three years
Bhuvan came to know about the cage allotment after receiving the department’s notice. Apart from the manipulation of crores in the cage allotment in these reservoirs, fish farming is also being done for three years. It has also come to light that this business is being done by people coming from outside. The payment of Rs 7,200 per year for each cage has also not been made for 3 years. This amount is about 15 lakh rupees. The case of corruption in cage allotment has come to light only after the real beneficiaries received notices for recovery of this lease amount.
ent is investigating this fraud.
